Chuck vs A Christmas at Eureka
by Jimmy 144
Summary: Chuck and Sarah are called to Eureka to investigate a bomb threat. They try to make it a Christmas vacation. Casey and the characters from Eureka are dealing with everyday Eureka problems. Chapter 12 Christmas Morning
1. Chapter 1 Partridge

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 1—The Partridge**

Setting for Chuck is mid December post season 2. Chuck does have the Intersect 2.0. The first Intersect was the sum total of all the nations intelligence encoded in images and downloaded into Chuck's brain. Over the course of two years, Chuck performed some heroic acts with the assistance of the Intersect's information, Agent Sarah Walker from the CIA and Colonel John Casey from the NSA. Six months ago Chuck had been able through his father's intervention to get the Intersect out. But within a week Chuck was put in a situation where he felt that it was his duty to download the new Intersect 2.0. This Intersect provided the intelligence information and combat information necessary for a successful spy in the field. For a cover during the first two year's Sarah was Chuck's girl friend. They are still not quite together as real boyfriend and girlfriend. Casey is well Casey. He grunts and growls a lot, but considers Sarah the best partner he's ever had. Ellie, Chuck's sister, and Devon are happily married thinking of the next step but waiting for Chuck to move out.

Setting for Eureka is before the last scene with letter from Tess in episode 43. Jack and Tess just realized how much they meant to each other. Tess is still in charge of General Dynamics. Allison had her baby and is still on maternity leave. Henry is still working to understand the data from the download of Kim's data storage clone. Zoe is getting ready for college. Jo and Zane are trying to improve their relationship. Oh, the other SARAH. SARAH (Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat) is the computer system in Jack's bunker. It is a bunker made from a bomb shelter with blast doors. But the inside is nicely decorated. It talks constantly.

Other parts of the shows will be explained as they come up.

**The Country Restaurant**

Sarah just kept smiling. It was truly going to be a good night. It was their first break in almost six months. Fulcrum, the rogue spy network, was almost eliminated. Sarah had agreed with Chuck that they needed some time off. Sarah was smiling at Chuck because his promise of a fantastic meal at an old farmhouse sounded so unlikely. Her smile was accented by her angel like blond hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing her T-X leather jacket, matching leather riding boots, blue jeans, and a loose cream blouse. Sarah looked as stunningly beautiful as ever. Chuck was smiling too. He thought for sure this was going to be the weekend to turn things around. Six months ago he thought for sure that Sarah was going to be his girl forever. He had told his father that he loved her, but something always kept them apart and never gave them another chance to demonstrate their love for each other. Chuck had planned this weekend and had a little help from his sister Ellie. He was smiling because he knew this was the magic restaurant. Chuck's smile came with a rustic look. His dark hair was a little shorter than normal but it was still curling. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, with blue jeans and something new, boots. They were at a farmhouse restaurant far north of Los Angeles. They each had an overnight bag. The plan was to meet Ellie and Devon for a Stanford vs. UCLA basketball game at Stanford. Tonight was to be followed by a stay at a bed and breakfast. Then the morning would include a stop by a ranch for a horseback ride around a vinery. Lunch was planned for there and then on to Stanford for the game. The way back was to follow the Pacific Coast Highway.

After appetizers, salad and few honey baked buns for starters, Sarah tasted the fried chicken. There was a small amazed look on her face. "Wow this food is good. How did you hear about this place, anyway?"

"Ellie as a matter of fact. She used to go out with her friends from school and try a different restaurant each weekend. Then they'd go back and try to recreate the recipe. Yeah, I was the guinea pig. When I went to school at Stanford, they came up some weekends. They found this place along the way. But this was the restaurant that they loved but could never duplicate." Chuck smiled.

"Wow, so this is an Ellie recommendation. No wonder it's great." Sarah was definitely enjoying the meal.

"Well, you are definitely going to like this. Each dish will be better than the one before." Chuck remembered the last time he was here was almost eight years ago. He was glad that it was still open.

After a heavenly desert Sarah looked down at her plate again. "Chuck, this has been so good. I really do love it."

Chuck reached into his pocket, "Well, I hope you'll like this too." He gave her a small box with Christmas wrapping.

Sarah looked at him. "Chuck, it's only the 14th. I don't have anything for you yet. Should we keep this until Christmas day?"

"No, it was especially for this day. Please open it." Chuck had a big smile.

Sarah opened the wrapping and found a little box. Opening the box she saw a partridge in a pear tree charm. "Oh, Chuck. That is so nice. Thank you so much." She reached over with her hand. "Do you think we could put it on now?"

"Why certainly, so happens I have just the tool." Chuck took out a small Swiss Army knife with a pliers attachment. "What, you don't have one of these?"

Sarah reached out to swat him. As a CIA spy she was the master of the throwing knife. At this moment she would not make it passed a metal detector. She had three knives strapped to her leg and a Glock under the jacket. Sarah pointed to where she thought the charm should go and Chuck put the little charm on like he was an expert Jeweler.

"Chuck this is so nice." Sarah was going to continue when her phone rang. "Casey, what do you need? I thought we were on a break." Her face was looking more and more upset. "Well do you want to meet us there? Or you want us to come back and go together? Okay, we'll meet you up there. Yeah, the sheriff's office."

Chuck looked at her as she took the call. He knew this was not going to be a good thing. They were promised time off before and more times than he could remember this last few months something always came up. When she ended the call, Chuck asked, "Okay, what do we have to do?"

"We are being ordered to a place called Eureka. There is a Sheriff up there we are to meet. We are to help him with a bomb threat that came from our old friends." Her face was falling into a sad look as she explained.

Chuck immediately tried to make it a positive. "Hey, I know this isn't what we wanted but let's try to have some fun. You remember the Twelve Days of Christmas? Well, certainly you got the partridge in a pear tree, right? Okay, anyhow we'll do this as a game. The first one to see the part of the song for that day wins. The other person has to get that thing from the song for the one that identified it. So, like on day three, if I see three French Hens first, you have to get them for me. Or if it is not something we can actually get, then we have to do something the other wants."

"You sure you want to do this? I do not lose, you know that?" Sarah's face brightens a bit.

"Okay, we'll make this our first Christmas vacation. You'll see. You'll like this too." Chuck left the tip and walked to the register with Sarah. On way he picked up a few Christmas CDs. He had the new albums from Mannheim Steamroller, Straight No Chaser, and an Assortment of Christmas songs.

They brought Sarah's new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet for the trip. Sarah was driving. Chuck had learned all the controls on this one. He had the mission display up. It had a secure link to Castle, their underground operations center. The mission report showed a bomb threat with a Fulcrum origin at Eureka. The mission was twofold: find and disable the bomb, and identify and capture the Fulcrum agent. Sheriff Jack Carter and Deputy Jo Lupo of Eureka would provide assistance. General Dynamics was a large government sponsored advanced research facility. Doctor Allison Blake ran General Dynamics, but she was currently on maternity leave. Doctor Tess Fontana was the interim Director. Most research projects at General Dynamics were classified. Doctor Fontana would provide relevant details.

One of the analysts included some notes: Eureka was a small town with a few unique features. It was created from an idea by Einstein (not the bagel people). The idea was to bring the brightest minds from the world to one place to create and conduct leading edge research. The research was done under a Global Dynamics Advanced Research Facility. Some people did research at their home, normally that was a little dangerous.

"Well, this sounds a little different. I wonder why they would call us in if the Sheriff knows what is happening." Chuck looked at Sarah.

"Chuck?" Sarah pointed at her head.

"Yes of course. But they haven't had us chasing all around the country to catch Fulcrum before?" Chuck shook his head.

"Well, I guess we'll have to think of this as our Christmas vacation then." Sarah had a smirk to her smile.

"Yes, but first we must deal with the volcano." Chuck pulled out his iPhone.

"What?"

"Ellie."

"Oh, well hopefully you'll get Devon and then you can tell him to cover for us." Sarah acknowledged that Devon knowing they were spies, had a certain usefulness when dealing with Chuck's sister.

"Yeah, let's see." Chuck called them, "Hi Ellie. Say I hate to do this to you when we planned this for so long, but we stopped to eat and the restaurant was all made up in Christmas decorations. Sarah never really had a vacation over Christmas and got to see much snow. So we are going to head up north to a little town and have Christmas." He held the phone away from his ear. "Yes, it was my idea. No, Sarah would never do this to you. I know but we'll be home the day after Christmas or if we can that night. I know. We'll do presents as soon as we get back. Hey, let me talk with Awesome."

Chuck generally called Devon, Awesome, because he was. To start Devon was a cardiothoracic surgeon. Devon could well have been a Mr. Extreme America. He did everything, sky diving, rock climbing on the fourteeners, and deep sea diving. Of course most of that ended when he and Ellie got married. "Hey bro, oh they'll win this time. Yeah, the bet is still good. Listen one of those things came up. Yeah, we have to go fix something. We might be able to fix it early. But right now I don't know. Right, we'll meet him up there. No, I don't know what to do about Morgan yet. Yeah, you're the best. We owe you big time. Thanks. Bye."

"Well that's over, I guess it is time for a little Christmas music." Chuck put on the Straight No Chaser. This CD had Twelve Days of Christmas on it, so he repeated it a couple times so they could remember the sequence.

After the second album had played Chuck asked, "Are we there yet?"

Sarah reached over and lightly hit his shoulder. "It's at least another four hours."

"Well, I guess we'll learn these Christmas songs and be able to go caroling. You think Casey will join us?"

"Are you looking for trouble?" She pushed him this time.

"No, I guess I just wanted to do something."

"We are doing something. We are headed to Eureka to find a bomb and Fulcrum. That's a pretty big something." Sarah looked over at him to judge what he was really doing. _'Chuck has really been trying over the past six months. He's been learning how to be a real agent. He's been doing well in my lessons for hand-to-hand combat. Casey has been taking him to the rifle range. Chuck has learned to shoot. But he keeps telling us,_ 'you know I will not shoot anyone, well unless they are going to shoot you.' _Actually, we have been doing so well Fulcrum is almost gone. Even General Beckman now points to us as the three best agents she has. He wants something.'_

"I don't know I was hoping for something. I mean we could try to make this a real Christmas vacation. I want us to have fun and enjoy this." Chuck was really pushing. _'Oh, I want this to get back to where we were. This battle hasn't left us any time. Our relationship has all been a show.'_ Chuck finally said, "I want some time with you."

"What do you mean? We have been working together since you downloaded Intersect 2.0. And we have been doing great." Sarah really wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"I know. But you know nothing has changed. I am still crazy about you, probably more than I was, if that is possible. But that's it we have not been able to or had the time to really be together." Chuck was hoping this could go somewhere. _'I know she wanted to stay with me when I got the Intersect out of my head. But she hasn't opened up since. Now we are almost equals, Beckman calls me an agent now. Fulcrum is almost gone. It's Christmas. We ought to be able.' _

"But."

"Okay, you know that I went ahead with the download so that we could end Fulcrum and the Ring. Now that part of this is almost done, I still want the same things. Especially the girl I love forever." They looked at each other for a second. "But now we both know I may never be able to get this out." He pointed to his head.

"I know. I want the same things." She almost whispered. _'How do we do this? How do I do this?'_

"So back to my original idea, we should try to make this a real Christmas vacation. I want us to have fun and enjoy this. And maybe when we are done." He stopped as a car passed them a little too close.

"I know." Sarah moved over to let the jerk go past them. _'I hope so too.'_

"Okay, so let's have some fun." Chuck looked at her. Her smile had straightened out. That was usually a bad sign. "No you can't shoot his tires." And he got a smile. "Merry Christmas." The last album began to play.

**Sheriff's Office, Eureka**

Sarah pulled up to the office at the same time as Casey pulled in. They all nodded at each other.

Sarah asked, "Anything new?"

"No, the sheriff should be able to tell us." Casey opened the door for them.

They entered the Sheriff's office to find him at the other end of the open office. Sheriff Carter got up and walked over to meet them. "Welcome to Eureka. I am the sheriff. Jack Carter." He started shaking their hands. "And this is Deputy Jo Lupo."

"Sarah Walker, good evening." Sarah shook the hands of both.

"Hi, Chuck Bartowski," and Chuck shook their hands.

"Casey," he grunted. The sheriff shook his hand.

Jo got up and made the rounds, "Thank you for coming."

Sarah asked, "Sheriff can you, no wait, unless the bomb is going to blow up before tomorrow morning?" She saw them shrug their shoulders. "Okay then, how about you tell us where the hotel is? And then we will meet you in the morning?"

"That sounds like a very good idea. Actually, it is not a hotel. We have you booked in a bed and breakfast not too far from here. If you follow me in my car, I'll show you where it is. Tomorrow, we can meet at the restaurant Café Diem. It is just down the street. We will pass it on the way."

Sarah looked at the others, "Okay, that will be fine."

"Jo thanks for waiting. See you in the morning." Jack grabbed his jacket.

Chuck had a flash when he saw the patch on the jacket, images of:

_Federal Marshall Symbol_

_House trailer_

_Dog_

_Accelerator_

_Secrets Act_

Chuck held up his hand, "Ah why were we to meet you here first, what is it that we need to know before we start this? Let's see, besides the bomb threat, you have been having some other problems. Maybe missing classified files at GD, or maybe equipment? And do you still have a tachyon accelerator?" Chuck now understood what GD was all about and a little more about why they were called.

Carter looked at Chuck, "Who are you guys? We really were not told much but your names."

Sarah pulled her badge, "Agent Sarah Walker, CIA."

"Colonel John Casey, NSA, we are here at the request of General Beckman, from another request of General Mansfield." Casey was holding his badge.

"And I am a little more complicated, but we'll explain that tomorrow at GD. Is there something we need to know before we go to GD?" Chuck was in front of Sheriff Carter wanting for a response.

Carter said, "You are right. It is more than the bomb threat. But there are very few individuals who know. GD is having a problem keeping its secrets. Fortunately they are not the Section 5 military secrets, but someone is taking stuff from one of the labs."

Jo interrupted, "Colonel Casey. Sir, what do you know about something called Fulcrum?"

Casey grunted, "They are a rogue spy organization."

"We have been breaking up their organization over the past couple years. I would image that is why we were called." Sarah acknowledged.

"So anything else before we get to GD?" Chuck asked.

Carter looked at Chuck, "Well, when we show you around at GD tomorrow, we will not be able to talk about it. We don't know who is responsible. Most of GD could have access to the hydroponics lab. We will be able to show you the lab. But we will not be able to say anything about the problem while we are there."

"Ah, why would anyone want to steal secrets from a hydroponics lab?" Casey asked.

Chuck answered, "How about crop improvements, like for opium?"

Casey grunted. Carter and Lupo finally got why this would matter with an "Oh," from both.

Chuck nodded to Sarah, who said, "Okay, let's meet tomorrow morning. Sheriff, we will follow you."

When they went outside snow had started falling. Chuck took Sarah's hand while they were walking to the car. He said Merry Christmas to her when he closed her door.

Chuck thought the drive over was fun. By the time they got to their destination so did Sarah. Each house had Christmas decorations. Some had lights trimming every corner of their house. Others had Santa displays in front or on the roof.

**Bed and Breakfast Eureka**

Carter waved when they got to the bed and breakfast. He proceeded on to his place. Sarah and Casey pulled in the parking lot for the house. The house was a rather large place. It too had Christmas lights trimming the edges of the house. Formerly owned and run by Beverley Barlowe, the business was now run by GD for their guests.

Chuck went around and got their luggage. Sarah got the smaller carrying case and a special case with their laptops and secure communications. Casey got out of a rental Jeep Grand Cherokee. He went around to the back of the Jeep and got out his two hard case suitcases and backpack. They walked into the lobby.

Julia Golden met them in the lobby, "Hi, welcome to Eureka. Please sign here and I'll get you your keys."

While Sarah was signing, Chuck asked, "Is everyone decorating their house for Christmas?"

Julia looked outside and could see the lights down the street. "Oh yeah, it's our holiday decoration show contest. Everyone pulls out the best lighting or imagery shows they can. There are at least two displays with the new holograms. One is just past here another block and the other is over at the Sheriff's. Joe and Lucas did that one as a present before she went off to school."

Chuck was trying his best to find out what was happening, "Who is Zoe?"

"Oh, she is Sheriff Carter's daughter and Lucas is her, well boy friend. Although, I know they want to be more. They are both going off to school next semester. Joe got undergrad pre-med at Harvard and Lucas is going to MIT. So they got together and decided to make a hologram for Sheriff Carter as a Christmas present. I must say I do like it. It does seem better than these new lights everywhere."

Chuck continued, "So what do you do?"

"Oh, I work at GD. I just do this to help out. I don't have a place yet. So I am living here temporarily." She got the keys out and gave them the keys. She was watching what was happening and noticed that Chuck had brought Sarah's bag in the lobby. She gave Chuck the corner room which was the larger room and it had a door to the adjoining room. In this case, that room was going to be Sarah's.

"Here are your keys. Do you want breakfast in the morning?"

Sarah spoke up, "Well we are supposed to meet Sheriff Carter at Café Diem. Does he have breakfast there or what do you recommend?"

"Oh well, most everyone goes to the Café if they don't eat at home. Since you are our only guests right now, it's really your choice."

Sarah quickly decided, "Then let's go out to eat tomorrow. You can come with us and we'll treat."

"Oh, that's very nice of you. See you tomorrow. Let me know if you need anything. I am the operator too."

Chuck continued to carry the luggage up to the rooms. Sarah was next to his and Casey's was across the hall.

Chuck dropped off Sarah's, "See you in the morning."

"Yeah, thank you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Chuck went over to his room and started to unpack. He was putting his coats in the closet when he saw a tiny gleam where the wood panel met door facing. He'd seen it before. It was a built-in PV1000 micro-video camera. He had seen them before; generally they came with a small microphone. He was a bit surprised when he saw the microphone was also built-in. It was the top of the bolt in the door hinge. Chuck found some old electrical tape in his suitcase and covered the camera. Then he took his knife and disabled the microphone.

He went to the adjoining door. "Sarah, please open the door. Please do it right away." He heard the bolt open and the door open. He was so happy she hadn't started to get ready for bed. He held his finger to his lips before he went in her room. As swiftly as he could he found and disabled the camera and then the microphone.

"Sorry I didn't mean to almost shout at you. But I did not want that camera to, well you know." He went over to hold her. "I guess I am a little possessive. I want you. I am not going to let someone do that."

Sarah was beaming. She kissed him tenderly. _'He is so special. He always looks out for me. I am as crazy about him. Oh, this is so good. I just have to learn how to keep doing this for real.'_ They rocked back and forth for a while. And then there was a knock on the door.

"Casey." They said nodding at each other when they separated.

_A/N Hopefully you realize this is the first of the Twelve Days of Christmas. There are fifteen chapters. I will be posting the chapters rather rapidly. I hope to have them up every other day till Christmas. Oh, and I don't own Straight No Chaser, but the idea for this came from their two songs, "Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Christmas Can-Can." _

_I got a little ambitious with this and posted the counterpart to this Chapter at the Eureka site. It will be the same events from their perceptive. _

_And Happy Thanksgiving. _

_Please review. It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing._


	2. Chapter 2a Two Turtle Doves

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 2a—Two Turtle Doves**

Chuck heard her alarm and decided it would be best to get up now too. His room had a shower and a small bath. He quickly got ready putting on his blue jeans and white shirt. He went out the room and found that Sarah was coming out at the same time. But Sarah was wearing a jogging outfit. He asked, "You know it snowed outside?"

"Yes. I saw there was a workout room off the patio. I was going to try that for a quick workout. Let's check whether Casey is up and you can see where the system is connected." Sarah waved Chuck over to Casey's door. She knocked on it and called, "You up?"

"Yeah, what you need?" Casey opened the door. He had his tee shirt on and sweat pants. He said, "Okay I know you're not going for a work out Bartowski. Thought we didn't have to be to the restaurant for another hour and a half?"

"I was going to get a quick work out. We were thinking maybe you two could trace the system and find out who is doing it," Sarah said and pointed to where the camera was.

Casey nodded, "Let me get dressed and meet you over at Chuck's room."

It took just a couple minutes and Casey came over to Chuck's. Sarah went to he worked out. Chuck and Casey prided open panel covering the camera. They pulled out the camera and found it only had electrical wires to it. Casey opened his sweeping case. After a couple changes in settings, he was able to capture the frequency for the camera's transmitter.

Chuck looked over the camera and said, "There ought to be a matching frequency to adjust the camera. If I take off the tape, the main system should send out a signal to adjust the camera. See if you can find that. Ready?" He held the camera high and facing the room, then he pulled the tape off.

"Got it." Casey locked in that frequency.

"Okay, can you take that and scan the building. I'll stand here and put the tape on and off. That should get you some signals so you can lock in on it," Chuck said. He got his tape ready to go.

Casey grunted and went to the hallway. "On the count of ten change it."

Chuck counted to ten and put the tape on. Then counted to ten again and took it off. It seemed like forever before Casey came back to the room.

"I think I have it narrowed down. Put the tape on and come on," Casey said.

Chuck and Casey went down stairs the first floor. They found a hide-a-way room under the stairs on the first floor. Chuck looked at the equipment. He found the main transmitter and receiver went through a processor to a stack of memory banks. When he saw a serial number on one of the pieces he flashed:

_The Blue cube_

_Reel to reel tapes_

_Images and images_

_Advanced robotics._

"Okay this is like a state of the art system from 20 years ago. I think some of it might have been from an old KGB model. But what I have on that in the Intersect is what I would call outdated and old files. We are going to have to find out who would have been around then and maybe what they were working on," Chuck told Casey.

"But all that would be old now. That would be before the first Gulf War. What would they want now? You think someone just forgot it was here and left it?" Chuck asked.

Casey shrugged his shoulders. "But that is a good an explanation at this point. Can you tell whether it has a relay?" Casey asked. He pointed to the transmitter area.

"I don't see one. Casey, that transmitter looks pretty low power. It would be enough to handle the cameras in this house but not much further than that. Wait this is a display. Let's see what we got." Chuck hit a few keys on the pad.

A video came up that displayed Sarah going to the door to Chuck's room. Another setting showed Chuck's hand coming with black tape to the camera. Next Casey was doing a scan with his box and then blank. Finally there was Julian and them at the lobby. Chuck put in a year and date of ten years ago. This video happened to show two women sitting at what looked to be the parlor drinking some tea. Suddenly, the brunette slumped in her chair. Next they could see the red head pull the body out of the room.

Chuck flashed again:

_High-level network, a ring_

_Diplomatic _

_Congressional seal_

_Section 5, the artifact_

"Okay, well that is not exactly what I expected. The person in the video was Beverley Barlowe, the previous manager here. I think the other woman was a scientist named Doctor Ruth Hienzer. There were other things that came up, but we better be in something equivalent to Castle to talk about it. But it will 'Ring' a bell for you." Chuck turned to Casey with his eyebrow up in question.

"Well, we'll tell Walker. But for now no one else. We don't know who those people are. Can you tell the date and time this was recorded?" Casey asked.

"Yes, I have written it down. That was ten years ago. I can't imagine how much is stored in here. Should we keep looking through this? I don't know how far back this will go." Chuck was ready to type in other dates.

Casey said, "No, we need to see if we can get a system to record this and then review it so we don't lose the main files." Casey put a hand on Chuck's shoulder. "Shhh."

They both listened for a second and heard footsteps. Moving as fast as they could the closed the door to the little room. When they turned around Sarah was standing there.

"Okay, I assume you found the control station. In there?" Sarah asked pointing behind them.

"Yes, you want to see?" Chuck moved to grab the latch.

"Yes, please. We'll need to be quick I think Julia is starting to get up."

Chuck opened the door. Sarah ducked her head and looked inside. She said, "Oh, that's kind of big for just a relay station."

"It isn't a relay. Bartowski found that it keeps videos of the people who stay here. And of the little we have seen at least one person was killed here and it is still recorded in there," Casey explained.

"I flashed on it and it is old. Possibly something from the cold war. And likely something that has been forgotten. And I flashed on the murder. She was Beverley Barlowe, the old manager here. There were connections to several things, some with a 'Ring' to it," Chuck said with his eye brow up. Chuck closed the door.

Sarah's eyes opened bigger.

"I said, we don't tell anyone yet," Casey suggested.

Sarah nodded, "Yes. We definitely have a bigger problem. Chuck, you show Casey how to work the system when we get back. Casey, can you out something on it so that we know if someone comes close to it?"

"Yeah, while you shower and change, I'll put a security system on the door and show Chuck. We'll meet you back in ten." Casey said and then went up to his room.

Chuck stayed behind and looked around the room. He did not find any cameras that would have an angle to record anyone by the closet. When he got further into the room he found a camera and microphone. The camera was high up again, but the microphone was the top of a lampshade.

Casey showed Chuck how the security system was installed and then closed the closet door for the last time that morning. They met Sarah and Julia in the lobby. Julia got her car and again agreed to meet over at Café Diem. Chuck and Sarah walked outside. There was about two inches of snow outside. They got in Casey's Jeep.

"Casey how secure is the Jeep?" Chuck asked.

"Probably, not secure enough?" Casey answered.

"So how are we going to do this? Go out in the woods someplace and hope no one is around."

Sarah then said, "I am sure GD will have some place that is secure."

"Okay, I'll wait till we get there."

The scene on the way over was peaceful. The temperature had fallen to the twenties and the snow covered the roofs, grass and trees. The roads and the sidewalks were generally clear. There was a special heating element along with the old underground piping that ran through Eureka. It kept the houses at normal ranges and ran under the roads and sidewalks. They rounded the corner and got on to the main street of Eureka. The shops were opening as they pulled in the parking space in front of an electronics store. Chuck got out and opened Sarah's door. While there was no snow to impede her, Chuck took her arm as they went to the sidewalk. The storeowner next to them was just opening the door.

Chuck said, "Good morning, snow sure is nice."

The man came over to shake his hand and said, "Yes it is. We haven't had snow for Christmas in quiet a few years. Would be nice if it stays."

Sarah said, "That would be wonderful." She happened to look in the front window and saw them. "Well I think I win today, a pair of turtle doves, right?"

"Yeah, the second day is a pair of turtle doves. Where did you see doves?" Chuck asked as he was looking around.

Sarah pointed to the window. She said, "No, Chuck look here."

Chuck looked down in the window. The turtle doves were a pair of diamond earrings.

"Now, I win and I know we might not be able to get that." Sarah said. She knew the old Chuck would not have the money.

"Wait let me see. Hey, Casey we'll be right with you. Get us a round of coffee will you."

Chuck and Sarah went into the jewelers. Chuck asked, "Sir, how much are those earrings? They look like Christmas turtle doves."

"In a regular jewelry shop I would imagine that they would be around $2000. But as you will see in Eureka, things here are not often what they seem. That display window has the articles I have made.

"They do look real though. I generally price those for how much time it took to make them." The jeweler said. He went to the computer. "Just a second, I'll look it up. Okay, they would be $225. And we do have a special. If you buy something in the shop between the 15th, that's today, and Christmas, you may get a rebate. If it snows on either the 24th or the 25th and we have a White Christmas, they are free."

"Wow, you're not just doing that because of the snow?" Chuck asked.

"No, we are part of a small chain through the western mountains to the front range in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. It is the real Christmas special. Although I agree with you, I think this year we may lose."

"Okay, it's a deal." Chuck gave him a credit card.

"Do you want these wrapped?" He gave back the credit card and the receipt.

Sarah said, "No actually I'd like to wear them."

"Well, here they are. Merry Christmas." He gave them to Sarah.

She looked in the mirror over the counter and put them on. She was really smiling. When she turned, she gave Chuck a big kiss, "Thank you."

"Merry Christmas. Come on, we better catch up with Casey."

Sarah was smiling. "Thank you again. Chuck this is very special. Merry Christmas." She grabbed Chuck's arm and they went out the store over to the restaurant.

**Café Diem**

Dr. Tess Fontana and Sheriff Carter were sitting at the counter with Casey and Julia. Fargo joined them. Vincent had already served them and left two extra cups. Two cups were for Sarah and Chuck. He also left a special coffee pot thermos. Vincent's special of the day Christmas muffins decorated the corner. He had made a variety of muffins with ingredients of raisins, cranberries, oranges, blueberries, chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and powered sugar. When Chuck and Sarah came in, Tess pointed to a table and they join each other there.

"Hi, I'm Tess Fontana."

"Good morning, I am Sarah Walker."

"And hi, I am Chuck Bartowski."

"And I am Douglas Fargo."

Jack said, "We'll get to who they work for when we get to GD. Here, let me get your cups."

When he poured Chuck's cup, Chuck said, "Thank you, we have some questions for you. I don't think either of you have been here for more than ten years. Are there people at GD that have been here that long?"

Jack and Tess looked at each other. Jack shook his head, "Right, we haven't been here that long. We'd have to look at the records at GD to see who was here back then. I am not even sure whether Henry was here ten years ago." He looked at Fargo.

"No, Sheriff. I have been here only a year longer than you. Dr. Blake might know who has been here that long, but I don't even think she has been here more than five or six years," Fargo explained.

Tess asked, "How does that relate to our problem?"

Chuck looked at Sarah, "Well, it might. We'll need to wait until we get to GD then."

"Okay then," Jack entered, "Meanwhile, you ready to order? Vincent has a special service and he can make just about anything." Jack waved when everyone agreed.

Zoe came over to take their orders. "Good morning, what would you like?"

Sarah looked up and said, "Good morning, so you're?"

Zoe nodded.

"Well then, congratulations. It's a good school. You'll like it." Sarah said smiling at her.

Chuck was a little surprised. He thought he just found out where Sarah went to school.

"Thank you," Zoe looked at Sarah. "Oh, you got those. They do look so nice on you."

"Why thank you," Sarah said. She was almost embarrassed.

"Okay, well I would like pancakes, eggs over easy and bacon," said Jack.

Tess asked for waffles. Chuck and Sarah got pancakes and bacon. Casey got the same as Jack. Fargo and Julia decided on scrambled eggs and bacon with a cranberry muffin.

Jo and Zane came into the restaurant for breakfast too. They were holding hands and almost swinging them. Zane's jacket had traces of a violent snowball attack. And Jo's hair had a little snow and wetness to it.

"Morning sheriff," Jo said as they got a seat at the table.

"A little snowball fight?" asked Tess.

"Oh, I wouldn't call it a fight, it was more like a slaughter," Jo said with a smile in victory.

"Until I got you with the snow ball pie," Zane laughed.

"Good thing that didn't have any ice in it or I would have locked you up for assaulting an officer," Jo said. She almost had her tongue out.

Zoe came over with the first order. "Oh, what do the snow troopers want? Who won?"

Jo and Zane both raised their hands.

"Well, what do you want? Snow cones?" Zoe said.

"Very funny, I'll take pancakes and bacon," said Jo.

"I'll do the same."

Henry walked up, "Mind if I join you? Good, I'll take the same. And when you can get us another round of coffees. Thanks, Zoe."

"Sorry, I am Henry Deacon." And the introductions began all over again.

Chuck covered his face as he flashed during the introductions. Sarah noticed and put her hand on his leg. He shook his head after it was over. He was almost laughing. He had just got information on Henry and at the same time information on everyone at the table. He had remembered the Doctor, Doctor, Doctor conversation with Doctor Zamir. Doctor Fontana had three doctorate degrees. She was here originally as an Astrophysicist. Worked at Area 51. And a nominee for a Nobel prize in physics. Zane, held a doctorate after a torturous path through schools and hacker paradise with a little jail time. Henry held a doctorate and was the current mayor of Eureka. His file was a little clouded with a closed file related to an incident at GD. Even Fargo and Julia had doctorates. Fargo was implicated in one file with Beverley but nothing else matched there. As it turned out even Zoe had a file. She had been in and out of jail as a teen. But then it looked like the pre-med at Harvard would ensure she became a Doctor too.

When it was done and he could control himself, Chuck leaned over to Sarah and said, "Big flash on almost everyone, will tell you later. But they are all okay."

The conversation drifted back and forth between the snow and the weather in LA. When they finished eating, Tess agreed to go with Casey, Chuck and Sarah to get to GD.

When they got out of town, Tess was riding shotgun and had Casey take what looked like a back road. When he made the turn, the road appeared to end over a bridge that had fallen down. But Tess said, "Keep going, it's okay."

Casey was hesitant.

Chuck looked at the area and noticed something strange. He said, "It's okay Casey, pull ahead."

When Casey got to the lip of the bridge, the road cleared and the way up to GD was obvious. Tess turned and looked at Chuck, "How did you know?"

Chuck pointed, "It was the snow. Everything around the road had more snow than town. But when we turned on this road, the picture or hologram or whatever it did not match the surroundings. It wasn't that hard."

"Okay, well something new to get fixed for the season. Welcome to GD, we will have the normal security paperwork for you to sign when we get to my office. We'll explain what we know and maybe a little more than Jack could last night." Tess said. Then she turned, showed her ID and the camera scanned her face and the others.

Casey pulled ahead.

_A/N Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Please review. _

_It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing. Got to keep them awake, too much tryptophan made them sleepy._


	3. Chapter 2b Day 2 Orders

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 2b--Day 2 Orders**

**Global Dynamics**

Parking in the underground garage, they walked in with Jack. Tess and Jack said hi to a few people as they went through the center crossway of the GD upper complex.

They made their way up to Tess' office. Almost the second they got in the office, Air Force Brigadier General Beckman and Army General Mansfield appeared on the screen. General Beckman was the first to speak, "Colonel Casey are we secure?"

Casey shook his head and held up his cell phone.

"Well, okay. I have made arrangements for you to meet us again for a videoconference at the most secure room they have. It's called the Section 5 advanced command center or from what I understand the 5AC2. Doctor Fontana, you'll find some paperwork for you and the Sheriff to sign at the 5AC2. You'll also see that your system has the clearances for Agent Walker, Colonel Casey and Mr. Bartowski." The screen went dead.

Chuck looked at Tess, "Sorry, she does that."

"Okay, well walk this way." Tess started toward the security and the elevators. She was mildly surprised that the three of them got through the biometric system that had just been installed. They went down to Section 5 on the elevator and through security there again. When entering the 5AC2 there was another security screening. They had to wait a minute for Jack's security clearance to get processed. When they got in the command center, the crew there said that the security paperwork for Tess and Jack were on the conference table at their positions. They reviewed the paperwork and saw the notation for Intersect. When they put their pens down the screen came on.

"Thank you again. I take it Colonel Casey that this Section of security is satisfactory?" The question this time came from General Mansfield.

"Yes, sir." Was the quick answer from Casey.

"Doctor Fontana, would you give them an overview of the problem we have?" again from the General.

"The problem is that we received a letter here at GD yesterday morning. It said that Fulcrum would take its revenge. Unless we wanted everyone dead, we must remove everyone from GD and the town before seven at night on the 24th of December. The town and GD are going to be blown up. The letter was on my desk here at GD. There was an envelope addressed to me. But there was no postage and no indication that it had come through the mail. The only way the letter could have been placed on the desk is by an employee. Jack, why don't you explain what you have done so far." Tess ended her part of the brief.

"There are no recordings of events at the Director's office. So, we ran a data retrieval of the employees that were in GD the last time Tess was in her office to the time she came back to it. Since the letter came was in the office in the morning, and she had left at her normal time the afternoon before, the employee population covers almost everyone. Given that we went through everyone of the projects that could have had an explosive with them including all those at Section 5 and found everything in order. All of the explosives are accounted for. Then we went through the deliveries made to GD over the last six months and found nothing indicating explosives. We can go further back," Jack looked to Tess.

"Sir, that is all we have right now," Tess concluded.

General Mansfield asked, "General Beckman does your team have any questions?"

"Chuck?" General Beckman already knew he would have the questions.

"Well Generals, we have a few questions. But a couple things first, I believe you got us cleared for all of GD is that right?"

General Beckman answered, "Yes, we did. So the three of you can review any of the programs."

"Can we also go back and review previous GD programs?" Chuck looked at Sarah and Casey. They both nodded agreement with his questions.

General Mansfield answered this one, "Yes, you have authorization to look at any of the records. Doctor Fontana can introduce you to any of the people that have worked on those projects. And you have been given access through the library system. But not everyone at GD has access to all the records."

"Okay, well then this could be a little complicated. We ran into a problem too," Chuck looked at Sarah. She nodded. "General Beckman we will need to talk with you separately at the conclusion of this discussion. But I have no other questions about the problem at this time. Sarah or Casey?"

"General, we have no other questions," Sarah said.

"Fine you are cleared to explain to the Sheriff and Director your roles in the Intersect project. I will call you back in thirty minutes," ended General Beckman and the screen went blank.

Tess looked at Sarah for an explanation. Sarah began, "Okay, we are a part of a special project that put all of the nation's intelligence into one computer. That information was encoded in images. The next part of the project was to download that information into our agents through those images."

Tess said, "Oh I remember that project. It was called something different back then. Somebody named Orion was in charge of the project. I worked on it while I was an intern."

Chuck was interested about this background, "So did you ever meet this Orion?"

"No, why?"

"Oh nothing." Chuck looked down. She must not have met his dad.

"Through various events, Chuck is the person that received the Intersect download," Sarah completed.

"Wait a minute. You have a computer in your brain?" asked Jack.

Chuck looked at him and said, "No, not really. I have the information that was stored in the images loaded in my mind. I have what we call flashes when the information is accessed because of a correlation with the stored information and a pattern recognition of disparate databases."

Casey grumbled, "Disparate?"

Sarah looked at Chuck and then continued, "That's why he introduces himself as a little more complicated. He has a piece of every intelligence agency in him. General Beckman once described him as a national intelligence asset." Sarah smiled, _'And he has come so far since then. He really isn't an asset any more. He is more than that. But they don't get to know that.'_

"So you can use that to what, look at the evidence and see who wrote it?" asked Jack.

"I'll try that. But more likely we'll find someone who is in my database as a Fulcrum agent." Chuck replied.

"Or more likely we will have to use the old method of checking and rechecking everything until we have a break in the case." Casey added.

Chuck and Sarah looked at him. Casey responded, "What, I read private eye novels? I had to do something more than listen…" he stopped talking.

"So how do you want to investigate this?" Tess asked.

"I think we'll need to go around to each of the projects here at GD to see if Chuck flashes on something that may have a connection. Also, we probably ought to start with the projects in Section 5." Sarah said.

"You should go ahead and use this room for your investigation. Colonel Casey was right. It is the only room secure enough," Tess said as she turned to leave.

"Tess, sorry I can…can we be a little more informal with each other when it's only us. Anyway did you ever hear anything about Orion?" Chuck asked again.

"Sure Chuck. But I don't remember meeting him, why?" Tess replied.

"He is my dad. Just trying to find out more about him. The people who worked on the Intersect are not in my database. But there are people out there who would kill for that information." Chuck nodded his thanks at Tess. "And Jack, your job from now on is to make sure she stays safe."

Sarah smiled at Chuck, _'He is doing it on purpose.'_

"Okay, we'll see you in a little bit. My number is here on the speed dial. We will come back down when you are done." Tess said and left the room with Jack.

Almost immediately the screen came on and General Beckman was there. "Okay people, why did we have to not include General Mansfield in our conversation?"

"Well General, I am sorry. Under the circumstances, I could not even tell what I had learned through some earlier flashes to Sarah and Casey. And these people may not have been cleared for the information, even General Mansfield."

Chuck tried to collect his thoughts so he could present all the information. "There are a few more things happening here. Sheriff Carter is investigating the theft of secrets from the hydroponics lab. Again everyone here has access to that lab.

"Casey and I found surveillance equipment in our rooms at the Bed and Breakfast where we are staying. We tracked it to a center system that was controlling the cameras and microphones in all of the rooms. It was a unique system that was probably built back twenty or more years ago. The system included a massive storage bank that could hold all the recordings from the installation until now.

"While I was checking the system, we watched a recording from ten years ago. It showed a Doctor Beverley Barlowe. She was in the progress of killing another Doctor from GD named Doctor Ruth Hienzer. I did not get anything on the decreased, but Beverley is a threat. I saw records of her at Gitmo as a prisoner. She ran the Bed and Breakfast and was the GD and town Psychiatrist. She is a Ring agent, and her location is unknown.

"Beverley also worked with something called the Consortium. That organization's main objective was to steal secrets mainly from Section 5. Recently, the main target was something called the artifact. That piece of information has more walls around it than the Intersect team.

"Finally a couple things, we don't know if anyone has access to the surveillance system or its recordings, and there is a chance that there could be Ring or Consortium agents still in place." Chuck took a big breath and paused. "Ah, what should we do?"

"General, we did put an alarm on the surveillance system controller to let us know if anyone came near it," Casey inserted. "I do recommend that we have a team recover the equipment."

"Yes and I would say that we should keep it here for our investigations and then move it to Castle. Right now it could contain as much information as the GD library system. And show us the interactions that happened between Beverley and others at the B&B," said Sarah.

"I agree with your recommendations. Colonel Casey, I'll have a team there today. They can move the equipment to the 5AC2 today. You'll need to meet them at the B&B in two hours. And I agree that until we know the contents of the machine, the information about it is not releasable. Anything else?" General Beckman looked like she was staring at Chuck.

"No General," and the screen went black when Chuck said it.

"Oh," Chuck looked at Sarah, "like I said at the diner, he people this morning are all okay. They are not Fulcrum or Ring. And as best I can tell they are all good people."

"Well let's get Tess and Jack and start the investigation. I am sure old PI John C. wants to get to work." Sarah said laughing.

"I'll go get that equipment set up for transfer. Probably be better that I don't have to explain why I left," Casey said as he got his coat.

"Good idea. Chuck and I will go through the projects here in Section 5."

Casey left to get the equipment. Tess and Jack came down to give the grand tour of Section 5. It took all of the day to go through Section 5. They did have to skip one project. Henry was working with lasers on a data project and some of the lasers were lethal. His lab was closed while those were turned on. At each lab they got a description of the project. The project leader showed them the equipment and how it was used and how it was protected.

There was a weapons lab looking at new ways to either blow things up or keep things from being blown up. So for example in one case they were looking at RDX (cyclotrimethylene trinitramine) or C-4. They were looking at the density vs. composite structures to determine whether a different method of packing the C-4 would increase the destructive power. Chuck thought for sure he would have to bring Casey back for this one. He wanted to make sure they scheduled it so that Casey could see them blow it up. The other part of the lab experimented with Kevlar and other bomb protective equipment to determine whether their advanced methods of containing an explosion were effective. The lab lead explained in detail how records were kept and cross checked every day to determine that none of the material was missing. Each box of C-4 was opened and visually checked and recorded.

Casey did join them at lunch. As he came up to Sarah, "The package is in the 5AC2. It appears to be working. Let's be nice and cut the tour short this afternoon. We need Chuck to see what else is in there and at least how far back it goes."

"Okay, but you will like these. A lot of them are what you think are fun." Sarah smiled at him.

After lunch there were tours of missiles, munitions, armor, computer systems, and one on medical advances. The medical advances lab had a project created because of the swine flu problem. The project lead was looking at the old Spanish flu to determine whether the anti-virus they were working on could be used for an improved anti-virus for swine flu. As they explained it to Chuck he had the odd feeling he was back trying to cure people with Jill. These people were suggesting something similar, an injection with a type of poison. Chuck was not sure but maybe everyone did science the same way. The project lead went through the protections they used in the lab. They were a Level 4 containment facility so it was rather extensive. He did get a laugh when he asked why one of the lab workers was missing. They all said, "Oh, he's got the flu." When he thought back about it he did wonder why it was so funny. After a few more advanced science labs Casey's eyes were glossing over. Sarah called it quits after the third one. They all agreed to meet for dinner at an Italian restaurant in town.

Sarah, Chuck and Casey went back to the 5AC2. Chuck was working on the machine.

"Chuck do you think you can establish the oldest recording date?" Sarah looked at what he was doing.

"Well I am going to try to do at least that this afternoon. Right now I am trying to make sure the power is hooked up the same way we found it. Casey are you sure this is the circuit diagram the installation crew found and confirmed." Chuck was looking at the diagram.

"Yeah, why?"

"The system apparently uses a European standard." Chuck began connecting a transformer and got the system to turn on. "Okay, it worked. This may take a while to find the date." Chuck began going back in time. It started as a task and eventually became a game. He would name a day he was going to use and then the next person would have to say what they were doing that day or something that happened that day. He at least got some information on Sarah but very little on Casey. Casey normally said what happened that day.

Meanwhile Tess and Jack had gone to the director's office. Tess started, "So what do you think of them?"

Jack's immediate reply was, "They got clearances faster than I did and they were already in the system. Somebody thinks they are good. What about you?"

"I kind of like Chuck and Sarah. Don't really know what to think of the Colonel. But if General Mansfield thinks they can do the job…no, that's a bad way of looking at this. I have to trust them to do their job, or else I need to start to evacuate starting now," Tess looked perplexed.

"You're right. I'd like to solve this myself but I have no clues other than the letter. And that got me no where." Jack looked down at the desk where the letter was.

"Well then that's that. I'll meet you after work," Tess concluded.

Tess and Jack were trying to make the most of the time they had left before the beginning of the year. She had accepted a job down in Australia to build a new observatory. She had already told Allison that she liked Jack, but that was actually a few disasters ago. Now they were pretty close to being a thing. She was staying over at Jack's now. Jack was having a hard enough time thinking that after New Year, Zoe would be gone and then Tess would leave. So he was actually happy that Mansfield had found someone to look into this bomb threat, he gave him more time to be with Zoe and Tess.

**Aqua Alimentare**

Jack and Chuck seated Tess and Sarah at the table. Casey had decided to look around the town to see if there was anything obvious or out of normal that he could spot. Tess was wearing a loose draped light red dress with a thin silver belt and black high heels. Even with the heels she was still the shortest of the group. Sarah was in a tight dark green strapless dress with matching high heels. She was already over 5' 9" and the heels got her close to Jack's height. Chuck was another three inches taller than Jack. When seated it looked like a holiday gathering. Chuck was in a dark shirt and black jacket. Jack was wearing a dark brown short and tan jacket. The girls sat across from each other.

"So, thank you for pointing this out. It looks like a very nice restaurant," Sarah told Tess.

"Well, hopefully you'll meet the owner. He is a real treat. He can be so funny some times. He is from Italy and came over to work at GD. It was a combined nation job. He stayed and opened this restaurant."

"I am sure the food will be good too," added Jack.

When the waiter came over they asked about the owner. The waiter said that he was out sick, they thought it was the flu from the look of him the other day. He went on to say that there should be no problem they washed down the whole restaurant when they heard.

When the waiter left, Jack asked, "Did you find anything today?"

"No. I mean the people we saw seemed okay and knew their jobs." Chuck answered.

"And their procedures and safe guards seemed to be appropriate." Added Sarah.

"Okay, enough of work." Tess said. "Do you like this area?"

"Oh yes, it is wonderful. We have not been in snow country in such a long time." Chuck looked at Sarah when she said that. When she noticed him looking, she lightly blinked.

'_What does she see that doesn't fit? Something must be wrong?'_ Chuck kept up with the conversation but started looking around. Finally, he bent down to her, "What?"

"Let's go to the restroom," she said softly. They apologized and when to the back. "I heard something out there. I couldn't tell which table. But it sounded something like they would switch something and no one would know. It was in Korean."

"Sorry, I did not hear it."

"We will tell Tess and Jack. They need to trust us," she said.

"Yes, you are right. Let's talk about it more when we get back to the B&B. Casey will need to know." Chuck went into the men's room.

Back at the table dinner was served. It turned out to be very delicious.

"You know I like Vincent's place. But it is nice to come to someplace else, every once in a while," Tess ate her last bite.

Chuck got the bill. "I'll get this. I do appreciate how you are helping us."

"Hopefully, you will be the one's that have helped us," Tess replied.

"Yeah, that would be nice one," Jack added.

"I know you have had you little problems around here, but how often does that happen?" Chuck was innocently wondering about all he had flashed on. It did seem that the town or GD was going to blow up or be destroyed in some other fashion on a repeat basis.

"Well we do have our little problems, but I know the man that took care of just about all of them." Tess squeezed Jack's arm.

Sarah thought that was so sweet. _ 'They have to be in love. They are going to split up and they are still trying to make the most of it. They act adult about it. Why haven't I been able to do that with Chuck?'_

Chuck noticed that Sarah was deep in thought and answered, "We have our problems too. Most of the time I stay in the car and Sarah takes care of it." His smile was really big, she missed what he said.

It was snowing again on the way back to the B&B. Chuck asked if they could go around the town a little. They spent almost an hour cruising up and down the neighborhoods.

When they finally got back both of them were tired. They both went to their rooms. In a bit, Sarah knocked on the adjoining door.

"What?" Chuck opened the door with his tee short and pants on.

Sarah said, "Can you help with this? My room seems so hot." She was pointing at the window.

"It is a little hot in here. Sure, I can try." Chuck pushed the window to the side and then it slid up.

"Oh sure, how did you know that?" Sarah pulled him around.

"Shop was good for something." He pulled her close to him. They just started to kiss when there was a knock at the door.

"Casey." He was there to report what he found that night, and who won the basketball game.

_A/N Working Christmas decorations today. Finally got the Elves to wake up. _

_Please review. Looking for the candy cane to keep the one Elf writing._


	4. Chapter 3 Three French Hens

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 3—Three French Hens**

**Café Diem**

Sarah, Chuck and Casey went to Café Diem again this morning. Julia did not come. She was going to meet Fargo for some kind of cross-country sleigh ride.

"Hey, Vincent. Same as yesterday?" Casey said. He motioned for coffees all around. None of the people from yesterday were there yet.

Chuck knew that they would be early. Sarah agreed to go up early to GD and see if they find anything more about the machine.

"Very pretty again this morning." Vincent commented.

"Yes, it is very nice. Julia and Fargo decided to go on a morning sleigh ride." Chuck replied.

As he poured the coffee, "You know they have been trying everything the last couple months. About two months ago they came in here and scared everyone. They were looking at Fargo's computer and saying that the nemesis was going to destroy the world."

"What's that? A character in some video game," Casey said looking at Chuck.

Vincent smiled, "You know that's about what Sheriff Carter said. But no, it was some cosmic cloud that will envelop the earth in 2000 years."

Casey grunted.

"So those two decided to go out and try everything. One day they came in here after a parachute jump. Fargo looked like he turned a paler shade of white. He was really sick."

Casey looked at Chuck and grunted.

"What, I didn't do anything?" Chuck quipped back.

Vincent finished filling Chuck's cup. "You know they really do seem to be into each other now. Anytime they are not doing that kind of crazy thing, they seem to be working on something. Now, it's the toy drive."

Chuck looked interested, "Oh, you have a toy drive for the kids?"

"Ah no, this is a contest to develop toys for Christmas. The prime toy has to be a toy car, truck, train, or something like that. It has to move and there are several other things it has to do or standards to meet. Fargo came in second last year. He is sure that with Julia helping their going to get first this year."

"Wow, I guess that would take a lot of work. How are they doing it?" Chuck asked.

"Well, I really wonder too sometimes how much real work they get done. Actually, that's almost anyone this time of the year. I mean we have two contests. The decorations and then the toy. The decorations drive some people crazy. They drive around every night and then come up with a better way to light their house. This year with those new lights, it is really cheap." Vincent put a little more coffee in Casey's cup.

Sarah was interested, "What light bulbs?"

"Someone at GD came up with lights to replace fluorescent bulbs. It is a good idea. They have mercury in them and that can be a problem. Anyway these new lights are brighter and so far they have been cheaper to buy."

Casey was not that interested in the lights. "I'll take a small steak and eggs with hash potatoes."

Sarah looked at Chuck. He nodded. "We would like pancakes and bacon."

Henry came in next. "Good morning everyone."

Vincent already had out a cup. "Morning Henry. The same?"

"Yep. How are you folks? Sorry you could not come into the lab yesterday. I was working with the higher energy lasers. Today I am going to work some data transfers, you can come in today."

Chuck brightened. It could be something closer to his interests. "That does sound interesting. We have to check in but we'll be over right after that."

"That will be fine." Henry began sipping his coffee.

Vincent came back with their orders in a couple minutes. "Boy, it seems a little empty in here."

Henry looked around. There were some people in their seats but not as many as a normal morning. "You're right wonder what is happening?"

"As far as I know there is no events planned for today. I don't know." Vincent looked up as Tess and Jack came in.

They sat at the bar also. "Hey, Vincent."

"Sheriff. Tess." Vincent grabbed a couple cups and started them with coffee.

Chuck, Sarah and Casey did finish before Jack and Tess got their plates. "We are going to head up to GD. We have to check in. See you up there," Sarah said as Chuck helped her put her coat on.

They went to GD in Casey's rental again. This time Casey was sure of himself as he started across the bridge.

Chuck spent about a half an hour working on the machine. Every time he thought he had the first time it was used he had to go back further. He was starting to think there were gaps in the use of the B&B for some reason. Couple times he thought he had it and then jumped another year back and had some activity.

Sarah got a call from Tess. Tess would come down and escort them around. Jack had stayed in town since Jo had called in sick.

When Tess got down to the 5AC2, the machine was covered and looked like another desk. "Hi, again. I heard Henry suggested we go see him first. If that is okay, let's go. It is just down the hall."

When they got to the room, Fargo and Julia followed them in. They went off to a corner and were talking and laughing.

Henry introduced Doctor Unna and explained a little of what they were doing.

"We are going to attempt some laser communications with high level packets made of images. The images include the data that Kim brought back." Henry did not explain what Kim was or who Kim was. "We are attempting to see if the data transfer is successful. You can stand over by the table. The laser itself is like an intense flashlight. It wouldn't do anything to you. Here see." Henry put his hand in front of the laser.

"What we are going to do is center the laser on the receiving optics, try a synchronization signal and then transmit the data," Henry said as he adjusted a joystick.

Chuck looked at the set up, "So how much data do you think you will send?"

"This is our first test and we hope to get to transmit signal at 1 petabyte per second."

"Okay, that's impressive." Chuck looked at Sarah. She was watching Doctor Unna at the receiver side. _'Maybe she thinks that is the Korean voice?' _Casey was moving around behind the Doctor.

Henry said, "We have it centered. Beginning sync." At that moment Chuck began to step forward. Fargo's mini-masher truck jumped and sped forward. Fargo being Fargo had set the speed at sixty and the little truck made it to fifty by the time Chuck's foot came down on it. It exploded almost at once, sending Chuck head first into the laser table. The explosion caused everyone else to react. It was a bad choice for Doctor Unna; he pulled a ceramic glock and was taking aim at Sarah. By the time he had his aim there were three bullets in him, one from Sarah and two from Casey. Something in Chuck worked against him. When he hit the table his eyes had closed but the sound of the shots made him open his eyes to see what was happening. The laser performed its function, projecting the images on Chuck's retina. Everyone continued to be on alert. Sarah saw Chuck fall, but kept a hand on his back to keep him down and out of the gunfire. Tess saw it first.

"Henry, turn it off. Turn off the laser." She was almost running to Henry to get the switch herself.

Henry realized it and moved his hand to the switch.

Sarah saw the sparkle coming from Chuck's eye. "Oh God no, please." She put her hand in front of Chuck's face and bent down to him. "Chuck, Chuck, please be okay." She began kissing his forehead. "Please Chuck."

Over in the corner, Julia was crying in Fargo arms. He wasn't that happy either.

Casey went to check on Doctor Unna. He was dead.

Tess called Jack, "Get up here. There has been a shooting."

The room filled with guards coming in from all over Section 5. Weapons up and ready.

The guards in-turned called the medics from the infirmary. They were there in a minute.

The medics took the doctor and Chuck. He was still not responding. Sarah stayed with him holding his hand. The medics checked Julia and gave her a sedative. Tess went with them to the infirmary. Casey followed with Henry.

When they got to the infirmary, Doctor Unna was placed on an advanced medical table with monitors popping on as soon as he was against the table. There were no signs that he was still alive. The infirmary doctor pronounced him dead.

The medics put Chuck on the next one. His vitals came right up. Most readings were elevated, heart rate, blood pressure, and brain activity. Henry reached up and turned off the monitors.

Tess looked in surprise, "Henry, why did you do that?"

"We need everyone out for a minute and I'll explain. I think he'll be alright. We can monitor him externally." Henry gave her one of his most serious stares.

"Okay, staff and guards please leave the room." Tess looked at Sarah and Casey and nodded that they would stay.

When everyone had left Jack came in. "Okay what happened? And why is everyone clearing the infirmary?"

"It is okay Jack. I cleared it." Tess came over to him. "Okay Henry, you better explain yourself and quick. I want and I am sure Sarah wants that monitor back on Chuck."

"First who and what are these people? And what is he?" Henry looked at Tess.

"It is okay Henry. They have been cleared for everything we do. They were cleared by General Mansfield. They are to know all our projects and they have the clearance for it. You as the mayor have the right to know and are now cleared. There is a bomb threat, which we believe to be real, sent by some rogue spy organization. Sarah, Casey and Chuck are here to investigate."

"That's good to know. As mayor, we will have to talk later about the speed at which I have been informed. But what is he?" Henry was pointing at Chuck.

Sarah was becoming a little unglued, "What do you mean, what is he?"

Casey pulled her back.

"Okay, let me explain. We were transmitting Kim's data, all of it. We figured at 1 petabyte per second we could transmit it in less than a minute. I don't know how much of that was transmitted in the time he was looking at the laser." Henry looked at Tess and Jack. They understood.

Sarah wasn't that slow. "Let me guess your information was stored as images so that you could send it and then check the receipt of all of the information. And what, let's see for GD, they are the secrets of the universe? Close?"

Sarah was becoming madder as she went. "Next, you don't know what happens to a person's mind with all that information stuffed in it at once. Well, let me explain. They become catatonic or dead. We have seen it, and escaped. Thanks to Chuck.

"Then there is that one in a billion, our scientists are really not sure, that can take the data. Then probably another one in that billion, if there were that many, that could actually act on it. Chuck is that person. We believe, along with his Dad, that the files he downloaded to help protect us and this nation, had at least two or three petabytes of data. Now do you understand?" At that point Sarah grabbed Chuck's hand to make sure he was still okay.

Casey moved over to protect Sarah. He was almost growling. "What was in your data?"

"I don't know for sure what all is in the data. We have only had it for a couple months. I worked on a project that was a deep space probe, only this was like universe deep space. Doctor Kim Yamazaki, my," Henry stopped for a moment.

And Sarah looked up.

Henry continued, "Kim and I made the data package for the probe and some other things at went on the mission. Kim structured the mission so that it would return to earth if it could. She also gave it the ability to form its own artificial intelligence. It did, in a way. By the time it came back, Kim had been killed."

Chuck flinched at that point. Sarah looked back at him.

"But the probe returned with a Kim in it. That Kim was a replica and was used by the probe to store the entire datum it collected on its mission. So you are right, the datum were the secrets of the universe. Do I know what is in it yet? No. We were experimenting with this, so we could find a way to ship the data easily. We need others to help us," Henry hung his head.

About that time, Sarah felt her hand being squeezed. "Sarah?"

She was down to him in a flash. With her face next to his, "Chuck, you okay?"

"Yeah, you? I heard gunshots." His eyes were still closed but he was reaching for her. "My right eye seems to hurt. I don't think I want to see bright anything just yet."

Tess handed Sarah a towel and gave her a hug. "I am sorry. Henry can we get the medics back now so we can get some help?"

He nodded. "Jack would you let them in please?"

Chuck said with the towel over his face, "Please turn down the lights." He was still holding Sarah with one hand while the other held the towel. "I am sorry I fell. Sarah, are you okay?"

"Yes, Chuck I am right here. I am fine." Sarah was now holding him.

"Okay, what about John?" Casey looked over at him. He'd only heard Chuck use his first name a couple times, normally when he was kidding around and a couple times when they were both in very serious trouble.

"Yeah, kid. I am okay."

Tess was intent on watching the screen. She was a bit surprised how much she thought Sarah was actually in love with Chuck, but at the same time came across like a partner. And with Casey it was almost touching. He wasn't such a big lout. He did have feelings, and his reaction to both Chuck and Sarah were very close to what she had seen in Jack and Allison when working a dangerous situation.

After the doctor and medics were done checking Chuck, they recommended an afternoon off, but he did not have to stay in the infirmary. They also gave him an eye patch in the belief that the laser light may have caused some damage. Sarah promised to take him back to the B&B as soon as they made their report. Jack and Tess were invited.

Down in the 5AC2, Sarah began explaining the events from the night before and the sequence in the lab. Jack listened very intently thinking that Unna was likely the spy. When Sarah concluded that they were not sure who the doctor was with, Chuck told the General that he had no knowledge of the doctor. The General told Chuck to go get some rest. Before the General signed off, she asked Chuck whether he had any indication of remembering the information from the lab. He told her no. There had been no triggers like with the Intersect and the only effect so far was that his eye hurt from the back of his head. As normal, the screen went blank.

When they got back to the B&B, Chuck told Sarah that she did not have to stay. So she went back to her room for a while. She heard him moving around almost every five minutes. Chuck spent time in various positions around his room. He could not get settled. Finally, Sarah knocked on his door.

"Chuck, are you okay?"

"I don't know. Everything hurts. I can't stay in one position before I start thinking of you and that crazy doctor. What would have happened if instead of falling, I had slowed you down? Then I think of trying to explain any of this to Ellie. Or something like that." Chuck moved over to Sarah and held her.

"Okay, let's try to find you a good position." She moved over to the bed. "Let me sit up in the bed and I'll hold you. Come on everything will be alright." She was beginning to wonder whether they gave Chuck something up in the infirmary. He was way more excited than anything she'd seen. Eventually he had laid down on the bed and had his head in her lap. She played with his curls and kissed his smiling face until he fell asleep. They both were asleep in a little.

Later that afternoon Chuck woke to see Sarah beside him. She looked as peaceful as ever and woke as he shifted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not mean to wake you," Chuck stretched as he said it.

"It's okay. I did not need to sleep all day. How is your eye?"

He reached for the eye patch and slid it to the side. Barely opening the eye, he winced and put the patch back. "Not ready yet. It is still sensitive. But I don't have as bad a headache." Chuck wrapped his arms around Sarah. "I am so glad you came over. I don't know what was wrong."

"Well, I am glad you are better. You getting hungry?"

"Yes, I could use something."

"Let's see if Casey's back and we will get something for dinner."

"Casey. How about we have dinner at Café Diem? I saw something you'd like. I'll order ahead so they have it ready." She went to the phone and called. "Hi, Vincent. This is Sarah I saw one of your Christmas specials this morning. There will be three of us. I thought the special said something about calling ahead. Anyway we'd like the three French hens." She smiled at Chuck and held up two fingers.

Chuck collapsed back in bed to defeat. _'How did she find it and then remember after all this. Sarah Walker, you are so special.'_

**Café Diem**

"How is your head?" Casey almost rubbed the top of Chuck's head as he sat. But looked at Sarah and decided he better not.

"Well, thanks Casey. It is better. My eye is still hurting a little," Chuck remarked.

Zoe happened to come up at the same time Chuck made the comment. "Oh, what happened to your eye?"

"I fell while stepping on Fargo's toy truck and got zapped by a laser of Henry's. It focused on my eye for a while," Chuck thought that was the easiest explanation.

"Did they say how long it would be before it returned to normal?" Zoe continued.

"Well, I don't know." He looked at Sarah. "They didn't say anything to me. Did they tell you guys?"

Sarah said, "No, we only really talked about the accident. I'll explain that a little more later."

"That must have been why Julia was crying when she came." She looked at Sarah who had a question in her eye. "Oh, Julia and Fargo had been working together so long on that truck. I am still not certain why she went along with Fargo and made a truck. But they did and she was trying really hard to make Fargo happy. As you have probably seen he always seems to be getting in trouble for something he does. Anyway Julia was adding everything she had learned last year when she won with a hot little motorcycle. She must really be crushed."

"Well the truck really was. As a matter of fact, it blew up when I stepped on it. And that was an accident too. I was just getting closer to the table and when I put my foot down. It exploded and I fell forward," Chuck was trying hard to explain the accident.

"Some how that figures. Dad said they kept running that truck around GD like it was a turbo track or something." She got out her pad. "What would you like?"

Sarah put her menu down, "I called in the preorder for the French hens."

"Oh sure, Vincent is still in the back getting that ready. He'll have to give you the wine selection for that. But do you want anything else to drink?"

Sarah said, "I would like a water. Just a glass will be fine."

"Me too, please." Chuck followed.

"I like a cup of coffee please." Casey held a cup he found on the table.

Zoe brought the drinks to the table and Lucas came in.

"Hey, babe, still working tonight?"

"Yeah, I have until seven then I can come help."

"Okay see you over there." And Lucas went back out the door.

"What are you working on? A toy project too?" Sarah looked at Zoe who seemed unhappy that she had to stay at the Café.

"Well, he has a toy project but that is almost done. Tonight, we are putting together the Christmas display for my Dad. He doesn't know or have the time for it. But since Lucas and I are going off to school in Boston next semester we thought we would make something special for Dad."

"Oh that is very sweet. You are both going to Harvard?"

Zoe set her pad down. "I am going to Harvard, but Lucas will be just a little ways away at MIT. We are trying to convince my dad that an apartment together would be the way to go. But he hasn't agreed yet." Zoe was smiling.

Casey just shook his head and Chuck looked at his plate.

Sarah tried to field that one, but was at a loss too, "I am sure your dad will help you with the right decision."

Casey rolled his eyes.

Fortunately Vincent came out with the dinners. The French hens were a little bigger than a quail. Vincent had bread stuffing with celery and mushroom. There were other squashes and a light corn with the meal. He gave them the wine selection and showed them the match he recommended. They were happy with that and toasted each other to a fine day.

**Bed and Breakfast**

When Casey, Sarah and Chuck got back to the B&B, Sarah said she did not feel too well and excused herself to her room. Chuck pleaded a little with her knowing that his next obligation was to call Ellie. But she just shook her head and left.

Chuck nervously dialed the number, "Hi Sis. Yeah, we're doing fine. Well, actually Sarah is not feeling too well and went up stairs. Yeah, there were a few people out sick today. Sure, we'll be careful. It has been fun. It snowed up here and they have some real nice Christmas tree lights. It kind of made it come alive. Sure, let me talk with Devon.

"Hey Bro. Okay, I did not hear, what was the score? I know. Yeah, we'll be careful. Later," and Chuck disconnected.

Chuck and Casey stayed down in the TV room and were watching a Laker's game. Julia came in and had red eyes from rubbing them.

Chuck got up and went over. "Julia, I am terribly sorry about the truck. I wish I could help. Is there any way I could help put together another? I don't know about your truck, but my friend and I used to put together some pretty mean model cars when I was a kid."

Casey laughed, "Is that why the knuckle head bought the DeLoran and then the orange piece of?"

Chuck laughed at that too, "You're probably right. But you have to admit without the De Loran I would not have been able to do what we did that night to save Sarah and her Dad."

Julia looked at Chuck, "What do you guys do? Why were you in Henry's lab?"

Chuck looked at Casey. He nodded his head, "We were asked to come here by General Mansfield. He found evidence that there were people like Doctor Unna here at GD. We were asked to find them."

"Oh. At least that explains why you had guns. Do you carry one too?"

Casey got a laugh at that too, "Not unless you count water pistols."

"Well no, I generally don't. I've only used a tranq gun on him," Chuck pointed at Casey.

"Oh wow, before I start something, did you say you had a DeLoran? Like in 'Back to the Future?'" Julia asked.

"No, it was a Morgan car. It was a wreck, only got up to twenty miles per hour. But I guess we could actually find a real one here. I mean with all that you guys do I bet you could build one."

Julia thought about that. She had heard what Tess' project was for the Nobel Prize, "You know that could be possible. Let me show you the drawings for our truck. Maybe you have an idea for the replacement."

"Ah Julia, the only thing I know is computers. I might be able to help with a model that but not what you are doing." He saw her shoulders just slump. "But I could try, let me see."

They spent the next thirty minutes going over the drawings. Chuck made a few changes to style the body into what he remembered of the DeLoran. He reminded Julia that the DeLoran from 'Back to the Future' had a nuclear reactor. She showed him that part that was a mini-reactor.

Chuck said he would think about it and give her any ideas in the morning.

When the game was over Casey said he was heading up to bed and would see them in the morning.

_A/N Okay a little more action during the Holiday season. It's snowing here, so maybe it will snow for Christmas._

_Please review. It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing._


	5. Chapter 4a Four Colly Birds

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 4a—Four Colly Birds**

Very early in the morning, Chuck heard Sarah knocking at his door. He grabbed his pants and put them on and went to the door in his jeans and tee shirt. Sarah was standing there shaking. She had on her long flannel pajamas.

"Chuck, help me. I am so cold."

He felt her head and she was very cool to the touch. "Come over here and get in bed with me. If we can't get you back warmed up, you're going to the hospital."

Sarah got in bed first. Chuck thought for a second, but thought it made more sense to take the jeans off. He figured he would be better able to tell if her legs were staying cold or not. When he got in bed he scooped her up in an S. He rubbed her arms and legs trying hard to get some circulation. Her teeth were still chattering after twenty minutes. He put his cheek on hers to get a sense of what was happening. It wasn't good. He remembered what his sister said that night and knew she would not have waited this long.

"Sarah, I am going to take you to the hospital or up better yet up to the infirmary. Come on lets go." He helped her into her sweat suit and got her socks and running shoes on. Out in the hall, he held her while he knocked on Casey's door.

"Yeah, what?"

"Casey I need the keys. I am taking Sarah up to that infirmary."

"Here, what's wrong?"

"She has a bug or something. She said she was sick most of the night and now she is really cold."

"Okay, head on up there. I'll meet you guys when I can get a ride up there." Casey gave Chuck the keys.

When they got to GD there was hardly anyone there, Chuck got Sarah to the front desk and told them what they needed. Two medics were down in a second with a gurney. They put Sarah on it and covered her. They got her readings and hit the button to warm her blankets.

"Looks like she has the flu. We have a couple cases here. But nothing like the county hospital. They must be packed by now. It was a good thing you brought her here. Do we need to call anyone?"

"Ah, when you think it is appropriate, you might give Dr Fontana a call to let her know that we are here and that Colonel Casey will need a ride from the Bed and Breakfast."

**Jack's Bunker**

SARAH interrupted their sleep. "Dr Fontana, the infirmary from GD is calling. And Sheriff Carter, you have a call from the county hospital on the other line."

"Huh, thanks SARAH," Jack got his line.

Tess connected with her line, "Dr Fontana. Yes. Oh, is she okay? Yes, I'll take care of that. How many people do we have? How many beds are left? What is your best guess at how serious this is? What? What kind of Flu? I'll be right up. Thank you." She looked over at Jack. Tapping him on the shoulder, "We got a problem."

He shook his head, "Yeah. How many did you say? What is that like a quarter of the people? Okay? Is Deputy Lupo up there too? Lupo, L u p o. Right, okay thanks."

"That was the administrator at County General. He said they are almost packed. He has very few beds left and wants to know if he can send people up to GD, especially if they are employees. I said yes, unless you have a problem?"

"No, we have the ability to handle almost as many beds as the hospital, but it will depend on how many people we have standing to provide the care. Jack, how bad is this?"

Jack looked serious, "We got a real problem. The administrator said that at least a quarter of the people are infected. Jo is up in one of the beds too."

"Well we better start quarantine procedures. I'll head up to GD. You get things started here. You better tell Henry." Tess was up and heading toward the shower.

Jack knew this was serious but started a little race to get in first. They both were standing there when the shower came on.

Jack said, "Well as the doctors keep trying to tell us, make sure you clean, clean, clean when it comes to the flu." Tess was giggling by then and threw some soap across his chest and began to lather him up.

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck was staying with Sarah. She seemed to be getting better, then changed and had a high temperature. When Casey got there, she was stable again.

"Chuck, can you go back and get the makeup kit in the bathroom at the B&B?" She winked at him. "You should be able to bring it here without any problems."

"Oh sure, anything you want," said Chuck.

Casey walked up and they told him what she wanted. "Sure, go ahead and get it. I'll go check in with Beckman. Sounds like this might be getting out of hand. A lot of folks are not going to work today and the school is closed."

Chuck got his coat. "I'll be right back. You call me if there any problems." He kissed her on the forehead. _'I don't care, I love her.'_

Tess got into her office at GD. She called the infirmary to check on things. "How many patients do you have? I told Sheriff Carter to start diverting any of our employees with the flu to our infirmary. Can you get as many of the staff as you can and see how many patients we can handle? Good give me a call back."

Her next call was to Jack, "You can tell the County Hospital that we will accept patients that are our own employees. I am checking to see how many we can handle. How is it going on your end?"

"County has reported one death from the flu. It was that guy who opened the Italian restaurant, Dr. Marostego. I think this is getting worse. What can we do about it?"

"We'll need to know what the type of strain. We can go from there. See, if you can get any information from County. I'll get the lab to check or records here." She almost hung up, "Be careful out there."

"Yeah, you too. Remember, clean, clean."

"Bye, Jack." She hung up.

Chuck got down to the underground parking lot. The jeep was parked in the same spot. They were getting there early enough now to have the same spot. Chuck got in and pulled to the front of the underground lot. He did notice something odd on the hill beside the driveway. There were four dead black birds. _'Okay, that's strange. I guess I better tell them when I get back.'_

**Bed and Breakfast**

Chuck's drive back to the B&B was like traveling in a ghost town. When he got to the B&B, Chuck saw an ambulance driving down the street with its lights on. He went up to Sarah's room and found the makeup kit. He was right. Sarah hardly ever really needs makeup. But she did want the Glock that was in it. He got the bag and noticed her room was getting a little drafty. Then he saw the window she had trouble with. It hadn't quite closed all the way. When he went over to it, there were bird droppings on the window still. When he was pressing down to close the window, he saw some birds out in the distance. _'It can't be this easy. Might as well see.'_ He went back to her makeup kit. He remembered seeing a Ziploc bag in there and some Q-tips. Going back to the window, he opened it and swabbed some of the droppings into the bag. Putting the Q-tip in the bag he closed it and the window. Then he called. Casey's phone went to voicemail. Sarah's did too, _'good she's hopefully asleep.'_

Next, "Hi Jack, this is Chuck. Say I may have noticed some things that may relate to flu. There are four dead black birds by the underground parking lot at GD. Now, generally a dead bird does not make me think of anything strange. But four dead ones in the same place is too out of place to be normal. I know you are real busy but I wanted to let someone know. I'll follow up on it."

Jack replied, "Well, I'll let you know a little secret around here. Here a tree does not fall in the forest without a reason and normally, it isn't that good. And I am standing by the trash at the Marostego's house and there is a dead black bird here. The good Doctor Don Maro was patient zero and he passed away this morning.

"Ah," Chuck flashed:

_Formula for C-4_

_Weapons testing_

_Bio-weapons_

_Fulcrum symbol_

"Oh please no. Who was Doctor Don Maro?" Chuck wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"He is actually Doctor Marostego. He is the owner of the Italian restaurant we went to. He works at GD. Is it important?" Now Jack wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"Afraid so. I think you had better call Tess. Have her pull the Doctor's files and meet us. We'll need to go down to Section 5. I'll meet you up there." Chuck was almost running out the front door.

Jack called Tess, "Tess, we have a lead. Can you get the file for Doctor Marostego?"

"Sure why?" answered Tess.

"He is patient zero and we may have a good idea how this is getting passed around." Jack did not hear anything for a couple seconds, "What?"

"He works in the Bioweapons lab. I thought they were kidding with us when they said he was out sick with the flu. He was working with the Spanish Flu of 1918."

"Okay just another day at GD. I'll meet you in a minute. We'll need to go to the Bio lab."

Chuck wasn't sure he wanted to do this but he needed more information right away. "Hey Sis. Miss you too. Say I may have a problem. Actually it's Sarah. That flu could be getting worse. What was the worst case of flu here in the States? How bad? Symptoms? I'll give you a call when I know it's under control. Love you. Thanks."

**Global Dynamics**

Tess met them at the elevators. Chuck and Jack were ready. Jack had a bag full of dead birds and Chuck a Ziploc. When they got down to Section 5, Casey and Henry met them there.

"What have we got?" asked Henry.

Jack replied, "We got what may have started this epidemic. Chuck found four dead black birds by the underground drive."

"Oh, the infamous four colly birds?" Henry interjected.

"What?" Chuck asked.

"Oh sorry. Most people think the song is four calling birds. But actually, the earlier versions were four colly birds. Probably from old English." Henry concluded.

"Well, I found a colly bird at patient zero's house. And something else. What was it Chuck?"

"Wait, let's go in here first." When they were through security and into the Bioweapons lab, Chuck said, "The doctor who was patient zero was a Fulcrum Agent. There his nick name was Don Mark O, sometimes slurred into Don Maro. He is the likely bomber. Now I doubt that he released the flu on purpose that was not his style. He was normally a long way from the explosion when it went off." Chuck looked around at the lab. "Okay where is everyone?"

"Oh, the link, Don Maro had been running a card game. I had Jo checking it out. She said she was there with Don and one of the guys that used to work with him. Most of the Bio lab staff was there too. There was no money exchanged but looks like they swapped the virus somehow." Jack was shaking his head. "But how does that explain the dead birds?"

Henry postulated, "Well, it could have been as simple as the birds eating from their trash and coming across some dirty Kleenex."

"I'll call the infirmary and have someone come down." Tess reached for the phone. "Hi. Zoe, what are you doing here? We need one of the doctors down here in the Bio Lab. Hey, you still have the clearance to get down here. Can you escort them down? I'll send a note to the guards. Great, thanks Zoe.

"We'll have one of the doctors down here in a minute. Is there anything we can do?" Tess looked at everyone.

"When we were down here last, they were suggesting an injection with a type of poison could be used to develop an anti-virus." Chuck was ducking. Casey was about to rap him over the head.

"We are not going to try any of your weird ideas. Remember you flunked biology and if you ever think you are going to that again," Casey went into a growl. The last time they tried this Casey had the infection and Chuck was injected with the poison. The needle to withdraw the blood from Chuck with the antibodies got broken. Chuck's wonderful idea based on his sound training in biology was to use salvia as a method of transfer. It wasn't until after his first attempt with Casey that he found how stupid that was.

"Don't worry. Henry let's see if we can find what they were doing." Chuck sat down at one of the terminals. He was on in an instant and into their files.

Tess looked over, "How did he do that? These are encrypted password protected for the individual person."

Chuck just kept going and pointed to his head. Casey understood. He got Tess aside. "He can flash on password setups. We are not sure, but we don't think there is a computer based system he can't break. And right now is another one of those times where I am happy he can do it."

Casey was watching Chuck, he was sure it looked like flashes were still occurring. He decided to let it go, but to certainly check on it later.

Chuck and Henry continued to run down the findings from the lab. Chuck was pointing to one of the lines, "This must be when they decided that the reverse transcriptase was not working."

At that point Casey knew this was a different Chuck. _'Please not the birth of Super Nerd._ _Okay, no one would believe it.'_

"Okay, here it is. They generated an RNA anti-virus using a complementary DNA intermediate. See they pulled a strand of the virus from the infected cell of the host and then used a reverse transcriptase by transfection of the complementary DNA into the transfer subject. Do you know what this equipment they used here?" Chuck looked around the room.

"Yes, I help design some of it. This is the screener. The sample is put in here and the processed result is produced here. The test subjects must have been kept in the next room." Henry looked at Chuck. "What are you thinking? You actually want to do this?"

Jack stepped in, "What are you talking about?"

Henry looked over at Jack and Tess, Casey was in the background. "The strain of virus we are dealing with is ten times more virulent than swine flu. That means we need three things, first a way to save the people that have the virus, second a way to produce an immunization, and finally, a way to get it out of the birds. Chuck has found the way to make an anti-virus. If it works, it could save the people who have it. We will also be able to make enough serum to make the immunization shots. Then we will have to work the third problem."

Jack said, "Okay, this is working. So for the third problem you need something like seeding a cloud that all the birds eat. Right?"

Chuck looked over and said, "If we can get it to snow, we could do something close to that."

When Henry said, "what do you mean," he and Chuck gather around the terminal again.

By then Zoe and Doctor Jabonski showed up. Tess explained to the doctor what was happening. The doctor told her that they were going to need a enough serum to inject four hundred people that already had it. And then enough for another twenty thousand, if they wanted to immunize everyone in the county. Since they were dealing with birds, the population to be treated was going to be bigger than just GD's and Eureka's.

Chuck and Henry turned around. Henry started, "Good call Jack. You were right. We can seed the clouds tonight. There is supposed to be almost a mini-blizzard coming in. We figure we can seed the clouds and cover a 200 mile radius. That should get any infected bird."

"So what do we need to do?" Tess asked.

"Well, I think we need to get the virus from the dead birds and compare it to the virus from Sarah and maybe one other patient from the infirmary. We need to make sure the virus did not change between the birds and humans. Then we will need to set up the processing." Chuck explained as he looked at Henry for confirmation.

"Yeah, that's right. Only you skipped the small little step of testing." Henry smiled.

"Well, let me figure that out while we get the samples." Chuck smiled back. "Doc, can you go get the samples we need? Casey, can you go with her and tell Sarah we got everything including the four colly birds?"

Walking out the door the doctor asked Casey, "Please call me Ski. Everyone else does."

Casey looked at Chuck and then grunted. He left with the doctor.

After Sarah's blood had been drawn Casey moved next to her, "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I feel really weak all the time. I can't quite get warm enough or cool off enough. This is the worst thing I have had in a long time."

"Well, genius down stairs came up with this idea." Casey said smiling.

_A/N Getting cold here. Christmas must be coming._

_The Elves had an argument over this one. About half of them thought it was calling birds. The other half had to look it up and found it was originally colly birds._

_Please review. The Elves are threatening to go to the malls to work for candy._


	6. Chapter 4b Day 4 Flu

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 4b—Day Four Flu**

**Global Dynamics**

"What genius?" Sarah was confused, there had to be over a hundred doctors in the building any of them or all could be geniuses.

"Our little genius," Casey nodded at Sarah. "I don't know what happened but he was down there talking with them like he'd worked here for the last twenty years. He also, said something about having the four colly birds."

"Okay. You know I trust Chuck more than anything. I'd say go with whatever he has planned. It will be the best." She looked at him for acceptance.

He grunted and walked to catch up with the Doc Ski.

When they got down to the Bio lab, Chuck and Henry had it figured out. In order to make enough of the anti-virus for the patients they only needed one liter of blood. The blood would have to come from someone who had received the complementary DNA intermediate, basically a poison. Then they would need another three liters of blood.

Chuck and Henry put the samples of Sarah's and the other patients blood through the analyzer. Their strands matched the birds. They continued the process and made the necessary doses of the complementary DNA intermediate.

Henry had loaded the first dose into an injector. He was explaining to Chuck how this new one worked. He claimed it did not hurt as much as the old needle.

Chuck took it and said, "Oh let's see." And in one movement injected himself.

"What are you doing?" Henry exclaimed.

Casey looked with the most deadly eyes, "What did you do?"

"I figured that it would take us another two days to do proper testing. By then as many as fifty people could die." And softly, "Sarah could be one of those." Chuck looked up from the floor, "And he was right. It didn't hurt that much."

Casey got next to him, "If you kiss me before you die from this, I swear I'll kill you." Then looking him in the eyes, "Do you think it will work?"

Henry said, "We'll know in about an hour. That will be the time it takes for his body to process the anti-virus we need to test. Then it will be probably another hour before we can extract the blood with enough anti-virus in a liter to do the job."

"Okay, so if this works, you need three more of us?" Jack asked.

"Yeah Jack."

"Well, it can't be the Doc Ski or Henry. The Doc needs to take care of the poisoned ones and the real patients. Henry has to run the equipment."

Casey grunted, "Hum, I'll do it."

And Zoe said, "Count me in. I wanted a couple days off from school anyways."

"Jack, you're not going to do it this time. You need to get Martha to seed the clouds. GD will be safe. I'll do it." Tess walked over to him.

"Well, there is no reason to wait around here. Casey and I can move this up to the infirmary. Chuck you better go with the doctor. We don't know what the reaction will be from the shot." Henry moved over to the machine and Casey followed.

Jack grabbed Tess and Zoe around the shoulders and said, "You guys are the best. Come on let's get back to work for a while."

Chuck was taken to the infirmary by Doc Ski. He got a bed next to Sarah. When they checked his temperature had risen to 101 degrees. He said he felt a little warm. After they got him settled, Sarah looked over at him.

"Sorry, Chuck I really didn't mean to give this to you." Then she saw his face. "What? What did you do this time?"

"We came up with a method to make the anti-virus for you and the others who have the flu. We can also use it to make an immunization shot for those who don't. We also found a way to seed the clouds with something that will get it out of the birds. Casey tell you about the birds?"

"No, and what did you do Chuck?" Sarah saw this was getting more and more serious if he was trying to avoid the question by playing their Christmas game.

"Well. I did find the four colly birds. They were four dead birds with the flu virus. We found a match at patient zero's house. He turned out to be the agent we were up here to find." He raised his eye brow.

"What about him, and then what did you do?" Sarah thought, _'Okay, he gets one diversion.'_

"He died this morning from the flu. His name to us was Don Mark O. Heard of it?" Chuck looked around.

"Yes, I think I might have recognized him." Sarah agreed.

"Well he was the missing person from the bioweapons lab on our first day."

Sarah nodded her understanding. "Now what did you do that you are here?"

Seeing no escape, "I injected myself with the stuff to make the anti-virus."

"Okay, and how deadly is that, may I ask?" Sarah was looking like she was ready to go over and punch him.

"We don't know yet."

"The answer, Chuck!"

"Okay, if it doesn't work like we think, it's deadly." Chuck was getting ready to duck.

"Why?" It came out very hushed.

"Cause you know why. The flu is deadly, Sarah. And I will not take the chance that it could get you or another couple hundred people that are sick. You know that." Chuck looked at her pleading to understand.

"Yes, I know." Sarah said in the same hushed voice.

"But I still won."

"Oh, you are so asking for it. You know as weak as I am." Sarah was starting to roll out of her bed.

"Yes, I know. Kidding, just kidding. Everything will be okay. I promise." Chuck held up his hand in defense.

Zoe heard the last little bit of the discussion. "You two okay, or do I need to get my dad?"

"No, we are fine Zoe," Sarah said.

Chuck tried to whisper to Sarah, "She said she would do this next. We needed another three people."

Sarah nodded, "Zoe, come here a second."

Zoe came over not knowing exactly what to expect.

Sarah took her hand. "First, I want you to know, if no one else has, how special you are for saying that you would take the next shot. Not many people would do that. I know you have grown up with a lot of special people here, like your Dad, but you still need to know that is a big thing you are doing."

Zoe managed to get out, "Thank you."

"Second, can you move my bed next to his, so I can beat the crap out of his head for doing this?" She smiled big at Zoe.

"Oh, you bet." She almost ran around the bed and pushed it over. "Mine is just like him." And then she walked to the next patients.

"I'm asleep. I'm asleep. Can't punch a sleeping man." He jerked a couple times and started laughing as she began to tickle his toes. "Oh come on, not the Ellie torture. I promise. I promise I won't do it again."

"Okay, you better. Or it continues until you…" She straightened out and reached over to kiss him. "Umm, till you give up.

"Chuck, you are really hot." She reached up to feel his forehead and looked at the monitor. The display said 104, his heart rate was up to 90. She called out, "Hey Zoe. Can you come here again."

Zoe got over to the beds. Sarah pointed to the display, "I did not do that. And that looks pretty high, what can you do?"

"He should be okay. The beds are regulated to adjust to the temperature of the patient. His temperature should come down in a couple minutes. But I'll have the doctor check on that pulse rate." She walked away to get the doctor.

"Chuck, you okay?" Sarah continued to check his forehead and look at the readings. They were not coming down.

"Feel really hot and starting to get a headache." His eyes were closed and his face showing that something was hurting.

"Chuck, you better be okay. You promised." Sarah was starting to look around for the doctor.

"Hi, I am Doctor Ski Jalonski. I'll check him."

Sarah move off of Chuck and let the doctor get to him.

"Zoe, can you stay here and monitor his heart. Look for any abnormal heart waves. If this gets above 100 while he is still laying down, call me back." Ski looked over at Sarah, "He is either a hero or a fool. But there's nothing I can do right now. We have to wait and see if this breaks. I am afraid that if we give him something the anti-virus may not be produced. But Henry said it would only be another 30 minutes and we would have the serum we need to run the test."

Sarah said, "Okay, thank you doctor. We will keep watching."

She turned to Zoe, "Can you tell me what is happening? I really did not get that good of an explanation from Chuck." So over the next few minutes Zoe began the explanation of what happened down in the lab and what Chuck had found. Chuck had gone to sleep but still looked to be sweating. Just before the thirty minute mark Chuck's readings started coming down.

Henry came in at that point and drew some blood. Chuck was looking the other way from Henry, strait at Sarah. He had a weak smile on his face and she stroked his forehead.

Henry said, "Okay, I'll be right back."

Henry tested the sample. It came back as a positive test. There was enough to produce twenty injections. He came over to Sarah first, "I know he wants you to have the first."

After he gave her the shot, Zoe said, "Well, you better give me the poison before I chicken out." She watched as Henry got the other injection gun and gave her the shot.

"I am proud of you. Now go lay down." Henry pointed to the bed next to Chuck.

Chuck went back to sleep. Sarah fell asleep too, while holding his hand.

The doctors administered the other injections. Henry gave Casey and Tess the other shots. He called Jack and told him that he should come back to GD, it could get a little rough on Zoe and Tess.

Henry stayed in the infirmary. There were more patients coming in. When Jack came, he said that County Hospital was now full. Patients were now being sent to either GD or the town hall. Vincent was down there arranging things for the influx.

Henry and Jack moved the beds around again. Tess was next to Sarah and they moved Zoe to the other side of Tess. The movement woke Sarah and Chuck. The bed next to Chuck then had Casey.

They were into the thirty minute mark. Chuck looked at Sarah. "You make sure Tess and Zoe are okay. I'll check on the big guy." Both of them rolled over.

Chuck started quickly, "Casey, it will go fast. Just think of a little Neil and a good scotch. I think the Doc is taking care of the rest." He heard a grunt and thought he done his job. He watched Ski check on Casey a few more times than the others.

Tess was facing Sarah at the time. Jack was talking with Zoe. "You doing okay?"

"I am starting to get hot." Tess said.

"Yes. Are you comfortable? Need any water or anything?" Sarah was finding that she was starting to feel better already.

"No. I am okay." Tess looked at her temperature. It was now 102.

Sarah could tell she was starting to have real problems. There was no longer any extra staff to help out. Those patients who had the anti-virus were still recovering in their beds. And there were many new patients joining them. Sarah decided she felt good enough to get up and help Tess.

She grabbed a robe as she got out of bed and went over to Tess. "You are doing fine." She got a cool cloth and put it on Tess's forehead. Jack was watching Sarah and doing the same for Zoe.

Sarah sat down next to Tess and decided the best thing to do was to keep her occupied. "You have a good person with Jack. He is really a nice guy." She saw Tess nod. "You two have really made an impression on the town. I have seen the files on what has happened since you been here. I am glad you are together." She held Tess's hand and got a squeeze from her.

Jack spoke up and came around to the other side, between Zoe and Tess. "Yes, we are doing fine." Smiling at his private joke, "She even helped me clean up this morning."

Zoe called from the other bed, "TMI," and then closed her eyes.

Sarah smiled at Jack and he looked at the floor.

Sarah continued, "Your temperature is holding. So you are doing well." She changed the towel around on Tess's forehead.

Jack saw that Zoe's temperature was getting up to 104. He looked at Sarah. "Is this going to be okay?"

"Yes, it should break soon. The blankets will help do the job." She looked at Tess. Her temperature was holding at 103. "Okay, you are doing fine."

Jack looked over at Tess, "Yeah, honey you are doing fine." Sarah move back as Jack reached over and kissed Tess on the head.

Sarah went back over to Chuck. "How you doing?"

"Almost done." He was still sweating a little.

Sarah looked up at his temperature and saw that he was up at 101 but his heart rate was better and down to 80. She moved around to the other side to check on Casey. He was up at 104. She thought his temperature should be breaking any minute. Ski came over and put a cool cloth on his head. His eyes opened for a second and grunt was emitted.

Sarah looked over at Zoe's monitor. "Zoe must have made it. Her temperature is going down."

Jack looked around to check. He still had Tess's hand. It seemed a little rougher for her. "Don't worry, you can't be too far behind."

Henry came over at the mark. Chuck had done his job. He made it to the two hour mark. He turned his head to watch Sarah as Henry started the IV for the liter of blood. It did not take too long. "Okay Chuck, you'll get the first of this batch. From the look of Sarah, I'd say you ought to feel better in another hour."

Chuck laid back and was just happy it was going to be over.

Henry took a few minutes to get it set up, then came back and drew the test sample from each to make sure it worked. Each of them did work. He used their blood to make immunizations for the workers who didn't have the flu. The first shot this time went to Jack.

The infirmary kept seventy five anti-virus shots for their patients and the possibility of another ten showing up. Jack called ahead and found there were two hundred and fifty cases at the County Hospital and they expected to get another fifty at the town hall. Henry decided to split the remainder with twenty five staying at GD, another twenty five getting sent to the hospital and the last to the town hall. The boxes were packaged and wrapped. Jack and one of the nurses at the infirmary were to make the deliveries.

Jack gave Zoe a kiss on her cheek. "You get better. I'll be back as soon as I make the deliveries and check everything."

He went to Tess and gave her a deep long kiss. "You guys know you are special. Get better."

While Jack was out making the deliveries, Sarah and then Chuck started helping with the others. It just took another hour. There was not much to do. Sarah sat with the girls and talked about what they had been doing the last week and what Zoe had left to do in school. She did find that there was a school play coming up and Zoe was a lead in it. Tess was worrying about Jack. She really liked him and Zoe, but did not think he would be happy as a guard at her next assignment. She was done at GD as soon as Allison got back and would just be out of place here. Zoe listened and agreed with Tess as they talked. Sarah felt a little out of place. She never once explained what she and Chuck were doing.

Jack got back a little after Tess, Zoe and Casey had their blood drawn and got their shots. Henry had started making the immunization shots. Henry figured they could get out about a thousand shots per hour. He had started that down in the bio lab. Then in the lab next to that one, he was making the pellets for the cloud seeding.

Chuck was getting around better by then and went to get his clothes. Doc Ski came over and told him and the other three that they had to stay in the infirmary over night. And when Sarah asked she was told the patients would be asked to do the same. Tess had Jack check with the hospital to see what they were going to do and got the same result. Vincent said he could do the same. They had enough workers and he could serve dinner from what he had at Café Diem. Chuck was tempted to order out but decided it would be better to eat whatever they had here.

Chuck and Sarah helped the staff get dinner out for everyone. They ate last with Zoe, Tess, and Casey. Jack and Henry came up with their trays to join in. The discussion went along with explaining how to seed the clouds. Chuck really wanted to go, but Sarah kept him behind and Tess chimed in and ended it.

Jack and Henry went down to get Martha and the rockets. Jack got Martha's attention and Henry bolted on the missile rack. Henry programmed the points in the clouds for Martha's delivery. He and Chuck had worked on the math. It was determined that the best points would be dependent on the readings that Martha got back about the clouds. Martha's programming would allow her to choose the best time. They picked up the missiles and Henry got the payloads. Jack and Henry did not have to go far. They just took her outside and launched her.

Jack and Henry spent the rest of the night delivering the immunization to the hospital and town hall. There was a full media blanket to make sure everyone came out that night to get their shots. Their lines were short and fast.

While everyone at the infirmary was feeling better, the doctors and staff remained hard. Everyone had to stay overnight. Zoe, Tess, Sarah, Chuck and Casey helped the staff with the patients. By nine o'clock they all wanted to climb into bed.

Tess and Sarah both acted like they were dealing with a child. They gave Zoe a hug and kissed her head good night. Chuck just shook his head and got Sarah's hand. "You going to give me a kiss goodnight?"

"Stop it or" she didn't make it. Chuck had already kissed her.

"Okay, goodnight everyone." Chuck got a couple pillows to the head. But made it over to the beds with Sarah. He didn't let go of her hand.

Casey just turned over and said, "Go to sleep," and rolled back over.

_A/N __Forecast is for snow over the next three days. Heard it snowed in Houston, Austin and Killeen. Christmas is coming._

_Thank you for the reviews, the Elves kept working. But the malls are still open. Please keep those reviews coming._


	7. Chapter 5a Day 5 The Tunnel

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 5a—Day 5 The Tunnel**

**General Dynamics**

Chuck woke up with Sarah in his arms. He loved it. He was able to make sure she made it through the worse flu known. He felt terrific. Then he felt it. With their beds together it was a precarious position. She was definitely in her bed. He was definitely on the crack. Each move felt like his bed was slipping away. He moved his leg slowly over his bed. He was hoping to lock a toe on the other side and steady it. When Sarah turned over, all hope was lost.

She thought she saw the strangest thing. For a second his smile was the brightest beam in the morning, then fear struck his face and he disappeared.

Chuck caught himself before he hit the floor and was back with his smile in a second. He bent over and kissed her. "Good morning."

"Good morning. You okay?"

"Yes, I guess my bed was not locked in place. Sorry."

She reached up and kissed him, "It's alright Chuck. You know you saved us?"

"Oh, everyone else had a part," he pointed to Casey, Zoe and Tess.

"I know they did. But I also heard what you told Henry after you gave yourself the injection. Including the part about me," she kissed him again. "We need to talk about that, but first I think we need to go shower and get dressed."

They did manage to get in and out of the showers before anyone else. Casey was passing Chuck going out as he went in to get his shower. The ever present grunt sounded.

Sarah was already out, dressed and looked wonderful. _'How can she do that? It still feels like yesterday did not end.' _

Zoe and Tess were waking up. Jack had moved a bed in next to Tess. Chuck was surprised that he did not have the same problem. _'Maybe he has used these before.'_

Good mornings were popping all over. Jack said that Henry set up a display in the Bio Lab so they could see the results of the seeding.

"Is it alright if we meet you down there? We need to check in first." Sarah asked Tess.

"Oh sure, we'll take our showers and be down in a minute." Tess looked around. "I'll tell Ski, we'll check in before we leave the building."

Casey came out of the shower, got dressed and followed them down to 5AC2. They just got in the door and the screen popped on. "Okay people, what has happened?" Generals Mansfield and Beckman appeared on a split screen.

Sarah started the report, "We spent yesterday containing a strain of the Spanish flu that was being spread by blackbirds and human contact. We also found that patient zero was the Fulcrum agent Don Mark O." She continued the report. Neither Casey nor Chuck had anything to add. "We are about to go back to the Bio Lab to see if the seeding was a success."

General Mansfield said, "Thank you. Please let us know." The screen went blank.

They went next door to the Bio Lab. Tess, Zoe, Jack and Henry were there. Henry was pointing out how the mission was a success. "The pink area on the map is where the seeding was included in the snow. We got the bird population over a 250 mile radius. That part worked. We'll need to capture some birds to confirm it."

Jack looked over, "I'll get Taggart to do it."

Chuck took Sarah over to the terminal they worked from yesterday. "I have one thing to show you and something to tell you. Here is the model of the DNA we were working with. If I could give it to you as a necklace I would, it is my five gold rings. We won this one."

As he held her tight, "The download from Henry works. I think Casey suspects I can use it. Tell him if you need to. Partners, right? But right now I am not sure what to do. Can we talk about this later?" He kissed her to keep the cover.

"You trust me?" Sarah kept the hug going as tight as she could.

"You know I do."

She kissed him. They rejoined the others.

Chuck looked at Tess and Henry. "This was Doctor Marostego's lab. Why don't we start here and see if we can find any clues on what he was doing? How do we get to impound his restaurant, the decoration shop next door and his house? Is there a judge we have to see?"

Henry said, "You are looking at them. Between GD and local jurisdiction we have it covered. The good Sheriff and his office are empowered to do that." He looked at Jack. "If Jo is not yet up to helping, I'll come over."

"Wait, first before we all get back to work, thank you all." Tess shook everyone's hand and kissed Jack.

"I agree, as one of the patients, you all did something wonderful." Sarah concluded.

Sarah, Chuck and Casey went back next door. The scene came on and General Beckman was there, "Yes."

"The seeding covered a 250 mile radius. Sheriff Carter is going to verify that the birds are no longer infected. We are going to start at the Bio Lab to see if there any clues as to what Don Mark O did. The Sheriff is also going to impound his restaurant, shop and home. We will give you a report back when we find anything." Sarah watched as the screen went blank.

When they got back to the lab, Henry and Tess where still looking around. "We did not find anything. I'll have one of the other doctors come down and help. And Chuck, we could have Zane come and help you get through their computer files. He is pretty good at unlocking things too." Tess looked over to Chuck.

"Oh yes, please. That would be very helpful," Chuck acknowledged. Then he asked, "You want him to sign all those papers?" Sarah nodded.

While everyone was getting to the next task, Chuck thought it best to give Ellie a quick call. He knew she would already be at work and if he caught her at all, it would be in between patients, "Hey, sorry I did not get back with you yesterday. We both kind of got sick. We are better today. Yeah, there is no problem now. Yeah, catch you tomorrow."

The team spent the rest of the morning going through the lab. Zane was asked to sign everything, but not really told much. Chuck and Zane came across one file which they highlight and later printed. It was back to different formulas of cyclotrimethylene trinitramine. Chuck almost immediately recognized it as the formulas for C4. But when he asked Henry, there was no valid reason they could come up with on why it would be in the Bio lab. Later they all gathered around the table and looked at the significant things each brought to the table. Sarah mentioned that the first lab was working with C4 but she could not remember who else was.

Henry looked up from the table, "Nobody else is working with C4. Why don't we go look at that lab?"

After consulting with Tess, they headed over to the weapons lab. They reviewed the records and checked the boxes. Chuck was acting up a little and was jamming his finger in blocks of the C4 when they checked the boxes.

"Chuck, are you reverting to Morgan or something?" Sarah had a scolding look on her face.

Casey was moving over to rap him on the head.

For some reason, he held his finger up in the air and pushed in down in the next block. His face was amazed. "Okay, that was different."

All three had just about had it, "What?"

"Okay it could be my imagination, but let's put another block from each of those boxes out on the table. Then push your finger through each of them." He looked at them. "No, this isn't a joke. Try it. And then we'll talk."

They did what he said. At the end each had an amazed look on their face. "They are different."

Chuck nodded, "Yes, now how do we find out why?"

Henry pointed to the side, "There a spectrometer over there. We can get an initial breakdown. We'll need a small slice of each block."

Casey got out his knife and cut a sliver of each block and let it fall on top of the block of the block.

"Okay, sample one shows there is cyclotrimethylene trinitramine present." Henry said to the group.

"Should we be looking for the concentration or a percentage? Maybe the medium it is contained in?" Sarah looked over at Chuck for a better idea.

Henry typed in a few commands, "Let's check the concentration. That was already keyed into the function list." He waited a second, "And the answer is 600 parts per thousand."

Henry checked all of them. The one that Chuck had a problem with was only 150 parts per thousand. Two of the others were down to 400 parts per thousand.

Casey looked at Chuck, "Well, even your buddy, Morgan wouldn't like that box. I am not sure it would explode. The ones with the 400 reading are questionable."

Sarah was looking at the lids, "These boxes are all marked as high grade, 800 ppt."

"Why would someone reprocess the C4 and then put it back in the same box?" Chuck asked.

"Cause they wanted to hide something," Zane was getting intrigued. "Could they process the C4 and pull some of the cyclotrimethylene trinitramine out of the process?"

Henry looked around the lab. "Well, one of the purposes of this lab was to test for other packaging methods. So, one of the processors could do just that."

Zane pointed at the terminal, "Let's see if these processing runs, match the times Doctor Don was here. And then see what he processed."

Chuck and Zane spent the next ten minutes checking the logs and the results of the process runs. Chuck showed a couple comparisons to Zane.

"That's right," said Zane. "Chuck found it. Doctor Don was stealing C4. He would process a box, strip out the real C4 component, and repackage what he did not want in the box. That last batch must have been done in a hurry or something. That is why the concentration is so low."

Chuck added, "And then he added his new batch to the waste and must have retrieved it there. Could be the hazardous waste got combine with our friends next door and he got the flu?"

Zane nodded, "Henry would tell you that there are many controls around here to make sure that would not happen. But you have been here long enough to know that is a very likely scenario."

Sarah looked at Casey, "Can we tell Sheriff Carter to be careful? He is looking for containers with C4 in them?"

Casey grunted and got out his cell phone, "Hey Jack, Casey. The doctor stole some C4. Not sure what he would use to transport. Expect it to be high grade." When he looked at the number of boxes stored for the lab, "Don't know quantity but ten or more packing boxes."

Sarah got his attention, "Ask if he has dogs, if not we'll get them sent in."

Chuck asked, "What?"

"Oh, been around Carina too much. She used dogs a lot." She saw his puzzled look. "You know drug dogs. One of the bases near-by should have dogs that can sniff for C4."

"Jack said that the snow from last night is pretty deep in places. He said the two main roads are almost impassable in and out of town. He was not sure about the dogs but would check with Taggart." Casey closed his cell.

Henry asked Zane, "How was the road when you came to GD?"

"Oh, I didn't have any problems. The roads in town were wet but okay. But the road passed the GD turn-off looked like it had six to eight inches." Zane replied. "There a problem?"

"Ah no, just making sure the pipe system was up to this. We were scheduled to do an over haul next week. I guess we ought to move that up." Henry made a note.

"Well, what do you want to do? Zane and I could spend all afternoon going through these computer files. I am not sure if we would find anything. But we know he used them and made mistakes that let us at least get a start. There could be something else here." Chuck looked at Sarah for some direction.

"Well, if you don't mind. Chuck you stay here with Zane. Casey and I will go meet with Jack and Jo. Henry is there anything else you could check?" Sarah asked.

"I'll go talk with Tess and see if she has any ideas. Might give Allison a call see if she knows of anything else."

"Okay, meet back at the Café for dinner?" Sarah suggested.

Chuck nodded and so did Zane, "Oh, see if Jo is doing okay. She was pretty bad yesterday. Thanks to you guys she is better now. But tell her I asked." Zane turned back to the terminal.

Sarah and Casey got in the Jeep down in the underground parking lot.

When they got on the road, "Does look pretty."

A grunt, Casey was concentrating on the road.

"So how about you drop me over at the house and you go over with Jack at the restaurant?"

"Sure." Casey kept driving. "So, what's with you and Chuck?"

"Ah, what do you mean?" Sarah was not sure where this was going. Casey did not normally ask anything about what she and Chuck did. She found a while back and then repeatedly, it didn't matter as long as they could complete the missions. He had changed over the years. When they started, she was sure Casey was not going to tolerate anything between them.

"He is getting better at stuff. I understand that if you go to Stanford you should be pretty good at math. But that was the first I have seen him really get into it like when they were figuring the pattern for the seeding. Did that laser really do anything?" Casey glanced at Sarah.

"Partners?"

"Partners. What?" Casey grunted.

"He thinks he can use the download. But I did not get any further that than. He is afraid, Casey."

"I'm not asking for lady feelings." Casey growled.

"No, I am not saying that. And he did not specifically say that either. He said he did not know what to do and that we would talk about it later." Sarah's smile was disappearing, "Casey, you have to help us work this out. No flip remarks that he should be put in a bunker. And you cannot say anything around these people. Half of them would probably try to dissect him."

There was a small, "Hum," that came out but Casey nodded his head.

"So you have been the big C4 expert, what should we be looking for?"

Casey chuckled, "A hole in the ground."

_A/N It's still snowing. __Christmas is coming._

_Had to tell the Elves that we could not take over the Christmas tree lots and start selling firecrackers. Still not sure if they made a few. I'll keep looking. Please keep those reviews coming._


	8. Chapter 5b Five Gold Rings

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 5b—Five Gold Rings**

**Global Dynamics**

Back at the lab, Zane and Chuck were busy trying to spot anything that would connect the trail to where the C4 went. They were about two hours into it when Chuck announced, "Break time. I need a bite to eat. Is the cafeteria open?"

"I don't know, but there are some snack machines up at the dining hall. Let's go." Zane started out the lab with Chuck in tow.

"Oh, these are cool," Chuck said while standing in front of the vending machines.

"Yeah, they actually make the snack that you want. So, if you want an ice cream sundae, it will put the scoop in a bowl and whatever topping you want. There is a sandwich machine and a hot dish one, too." Zane pointed down the line of machines.

"Great. Oh wow neat, your own selection of popcorn. And you can get it the old way."

"Yeah, it comes with a bunch of warning labels, but if you don't mind that."

"Sweet," Chuck was smiling.

They sat at one of the tables. No one else was in the dining hall.

"So what is it like working here?" Chuck started.

Zane pointed at the kitchen, "Not bad, the meals are good."

"Not much to do?" Chuck grabbed the popcorn.

"Well, sometimes it gets interesting," Zane said.

Chuck asked, "Like what, chasing down a few programs?"

"Yeah, not much," Zane got a drink. "So, what's it like for you?"

"Oh, probably the same," Chuck admitted thinking of the Buy More.

Zane looked at him, "Can't be. You got to be getting something."

"Oh well, yes that's nice," Chuck got a hand full of popcorn. "But you're not doing so bad."

"No, you're right." Zane thought about it and said, "But got to risk your life to get somewhere."

"Tell me about it," Chuck said.

"Gun freak, you know," Zane took a sip.

"Knives," Chuck nodded.

Zane took a big gulp. "So the job, what's it like? Adventure?"

Chuck answered, "Yeah, sure."

"Fights?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, sometimes," Chuck got another hand full.

Zane nodded, "Jumping off buildings?"

"Oh yeah," Chuck ate of all of that hand full.

"A lot of girls?" Zane asked.

"Trying to stay with the one," Chuck smiled. "Others are killers."

Zane nodded again, "Beautiful, huh?"

"Well, that too," Chuck was turning the bag to get more.

Zane nodded and took another gulp, "So the bad side?

Chuck answered, "Yeah, there is some."

"Torture?" Zane asked.

"Yeah once," another hand full.

"Bad?" Zane took another sip.

"Put me out," Chuck was able to mutter through the popcorn.

Zane answered, "Ah."

"Yeah, well we better get back," Chuck finished the popcorn.

Zane said, "Okay, sounds exciting."

"Not much more than what you have here," Chuck replied.

"Yeah," Zane chugged the rest.

Casey dropped Sarah off at the house with Jo. She knocked on the front door and no one answered. She walked around the side of the house and saw the garage was open. Walking over to it, she noticed that there were no cars in the garage but there had been. There were oil spots on the floor and some tire marks from turning wheels.

She looked in the garage but there was no one in it. She went back out of it and around the side between it and the house. Looking in the backyard she saw Jo pulling on a door.

"Yeah, Jo. What did you find?" Sarah walked over through the snow.

"It is some kind of old bunker. I have been trying to get the door open, but I'm not getting very far," Jo pointed at the handle.

Sarah saw an old combination dial off to the side. Her face brightened a little. Sarah said, "Here let me try. I am pretty good at old locks."

"Sure, I didn't even think it went with the door," Jo moved aside.

Sarah took off her gloves and tested the door. It wasn't freezing. She checked the area around the lock. It was cold. Not wanting to freeze the side of her face, she tested it with wet fingers. They did not stick to the door. She gently put her ear against the door. It was cold. If this didn't go fast, she could have a problem. She spent about a minute and had the numbers. A few more turns and the lock came open. With that she nodded at Jo, they both pulled the door open. It wasn't what either thought. The opening vanished into a stairwell that looked fairly deep.

Jo called the Sheriff, "Carter, we have a bunker in back of the house. Have not been able to tell how recent the usage. It looks a little like yours. Had you ever heard of more than the one you have? Okay, we'll check with Henry."

Next call was to Henry and she found there could be more, but they were all linked to the piping system in the town.

"We could be at this forever looking for C4 down there," Jo told Sarah.

"Do you have a flashlight?" asked Sarah. "We should at least see if it looks like it was used recently."

"Yeah, let me get it from the car. I'll be right back."

Jo returned with the flashlight and they proceeded down the stairs. When they got to the bottom, it did look like there had been activity there. There were wrappers from the C4 and some new wood boxes off to the side.

"Well, it's obvious we are in the right place," Jo called the Sheriff again. "We are at the bottom of the stairwell. There are traces of the boxes from the C4 down here. He must have been repacking the C4 in the old boxes and bringing it down here. It is just boxes here. Do you want us to wait? Okay."

"Carter said to wait. We had some bad experiences down in these tunnels. They go on and on and are almost a maze," Jo told Sarah.

"Well, okay. You want to wait down here or go up to the house?" Sarah was getting a little cold down in the bunker.

"You're right. Let's wait in the house. I'll show you around," Jo said.

Jo led Sarah back up the stairs with the light. They went in the backdoor.

"There is no one else in the house. Actually there is nothing real special but the tunnel. It is the standard layout for the houses built in the early 60's. Kitchen opens to the dining room, living room is in front of that. Then the bedrooms and bath are down there." Jo got her thermos from the kitchen. "Well, if you don't mind I'd like to warm up with a cup of coffee. Do you want a cup?"

"Sure, thank you. It sure was cold down there." Sarah was shaking from the cold.

"Yes, it gets a bit cold in the winter." Jo replied. "We don't get snow all the time, but the damp air from the ocean always puts a bite to it."

"Do you really have that much crime up here?" Sarah asked.

"No, it's more like trying to figure out what went wrong with an experiment and fixing it," Jo said.

"Does that keep you busy?" Sarah took a sip of coffee.

"Well, you'd be surprised. Just a few weeks ago, Zane came in with Taggart and had some kind of frozen ice in him. It really did a tick on us. It was like his emotions were gone. I mean we were getting together really well then he went off on this project. When he came back, it was like he hardly cared or wanted to talk with me. If I wasn't so, well I love him," Jo had some of her coffee.

"What happened?" Sarah was watching the emotions show themselves on Jo's face.

"He was freezing literally in the infirmary. They finally figured out what was wrong. He had ice in him. It was going to kill him and he just went on working." She took a little more of her coffee.

"Anyway they found some kind of bug. When they killed it, he was better." Jo smiled and said, "Then we got together for a proper home coming."

"Hum." Sarah felt like she just listened to the way she treated Chuck so many times before. _'I don't know about home coming but he deserves something.'_

Just then they heard Jack and Casey pull up to the garage. They went out to meet them. "Hey Jo, what you find?"

"It's an old bunker." Jo pointed, "See it in the back. Sarah opened a combination lock, like a safe lock, on the outside of it. It goes down maybe two floors. At the bottom of the stairs we found the evidence of the C4."

"We will go down and take a look. But if there is nothing in the immediate area, we will have to come back tomorrow when we can track ourselves a bit better. Matter of fact if we don't find anything right away, we'll need to get Henry to pull all the records for the drawings down here." Jack got his flashlight and gave one to Casey. "Let's go look."

They spent an hour looking around passageways that were connected to the stairway and found nothing. They were not willing to go further as there were no signs or significant landmarks in what they had seen. It was going to be easy to get lost.

Jack looked around once more, "Okay, that's enough. We haven't found anything more than what was at the stairs. We'll have to get the drawings and try again tomorrow."

Chuck and Zane finally decided they were done too. They headed back into town to Café Diem. When they arrived, Tess was there but not the others. Chuck decided to go check something next door and Zane went to have to seat with Tess.

Chuck went to the jewelry store. He was looking around and the owner came out again. "Good evening. Can I help you?"

"I don't even know if you would have such a thing, but I was looking for a necklace with five gold rings. I would like five interlocking rings, but not the Olympic symbols. I mean they are nice, but this is different." Chuck was going from case to case trying to find it. He stopped at the case with the engagement rings. He was looking at one in particular.

Nick said, "Nice isn't it. Two carats, round cut and it's real. You ready to ask?"

Chuck woke up, "Uh, not yet. Sometime when it's the right moment."

"Yes, you'll know when. Now, what would you like?" Nick asked.

"A necklace with five gold rings?" Chuck answered.

"Well, I might have what you are looking for. 5th day of Christmas, huh? So, this is a necklace with five delicate rings in series. The chain and the rings are white gold. They would actually match the setting of those turtle doves from the other day. The necklace is $200, but qualifies under the same rules as before."

"Oh that will be fine, this is worth it." Chuck handed him the credit card.

When Chuck got over to the Café Diem, everyone was there. Sarah noticed him coming from next door and wondered what he was doing. Dinner went quickly as everyone was still empty from what happened the day before. Casey took Chuck and Sarah back to the B&B.

When they got to the lobby, Chuck looked around. The B&B was still empty. Chuck looked at Sarah and Casey, not knowing whether they would, he thought it worth a shot. "Hey, you want to cruise around and look at the lights."

Casey almost threw the keys at Chuck, "Help yourself."

Chuck looked at Sarah, "Want to?"

"Oh, sure," Sarah said. "But can I change first? I am still cold from those tunnels."

"Yeah, great. I'll be down here." Chuck went over to the study where Julia was working on the new model DeLorean. He looked at the diagram they were working on and wrote down a few adjustments. Then to the side of the drawing he wrote the math to go with it and the measurements needed to make it work. _'Okay, that should make her toy work. She might even win.'_

"Oh hey, that looks nice," Chuck was in awe of Sarah once again. She had on a fabulous white sweater that accented her figure very nicely. _'Oh very nice.'_ Blue jeans and tan leather boots went with the blue and white ski jacket she held in her hands.

"Ready to go."

"Yes. This should be fun," Chuck motioned to the door. "How about I drive the Jeep, that way you'll get to see more?"

"Oh sure. We can do that."

"But first can we get the Christmas CDs out of your car?" Chuck asked.

"Okay, come on." Sarah unlocked the car. Chuck got the CDs.

Chuck saw Sarah to her seat in the Jeep. When he got in, he put the CDs in the player and hit random play. They were a couple songs down the street before Chuck realized Casey had left a CD of the Air Force Band's Christmas concert. They got a chuckle.

Chuck drove slowly. The snow from the night before was covering the area. The lights really sparkled more. Chuck came to a stop before the end of the street.

"There is something else I wanted to give you." He got out the box with a small red ribbon around it.

"Oh, it is so beautiful. Can you put it on?" She gave it to Chuck and turned around. He put the necklace in front of her and locked the clasp in back. "Chuck, I haven't gotten you anything."

He lowered his arms around her waist and held her. _'You gave me you. I almost lost you again. Now you're back but Henry's download. What do we do?'_ They sat and watched the lights on the house in front of them blink on and off. In a little, Sarah turned and kissed Chuck.

"Sarah, what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean Chuck?"

'_The last time I thought I was close to being done, I thought I was going to have everything. I really thought we could somehow be normal and Sarah would be with me. Then for the last six months after getting the Intersect again, well it was like we drifted. Now I think we have a chance. Fulcrum is almost gone. And I don't know what to do.'_ Chuck held her again and looked out at the lights.

"Okay, what is it?" Sarah held his hands around her. Sarah was starting to wonder whether they were talking about really getting together or talking about the download from Henry.

"I feel like I have done this before."

"Look if there is something bothering you please tell me." Sarah now was not sure.

"Okay, déjà vu all over again. I know you had to tell Casey," Chuck said.

"Chuck, I still have to protect you. We are working together but I still have to keep you safe."

"I know that, I...I…I know that you do." He just looked at the lights. _'But there are still parts of this I may never get used to.'_

"What Chuck?"

"The idea that just because of a stupid mistake, I am making you and everyone else start rethinking what to do with Old Chuck," he pointed to his head. "I am almost more afraid of this than anything."

"We'll take care of you Chuck. You don't have to be afraid."

"Yeah." He looked at her trying to decide how to get her to understand. _"Okay, what if I try to explain it this way. Maybe it's Christmas, maybe it's because I am away from home, and I think it is more than that, but this is far worse than the first time when I got the Intersect. Then I was afraid of losing everything, my friends, my family, and everything else. Now that is different, now I am afraid of losing you." _He wrapped his arms around her and held her again, "I know."

"Good," Sarah snuggled closer.

The lights flashed in back of them. Chuck and Sarah straightened up.

The Sheriff's car stopped beside them.

Chuck rolled down his window.

"Oh, hi guys. Everything alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. Just looking at the lights. Sorry." Chuck replied.

"No problem, have fun." Jack pulled on down the street and around the corner.

"Okay, well let's head back," Chuck said.

Casey met them at the door.

_A/N It stopped snowing. Trying hard to keep those Elves on the job. I think they are out there trying to convince the reindeer to get them a sleigh ride. _

_Elves did a little tuning on this one at the suggestion of tshdow. Should be a little easier to follow. Please review. _


	9. Chapter 6 Six Geese

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 6—Six Geese a Laying**

Chuck woke up and thought about last night. _'Why couldn't I just tell her?' _

Sarah was already up and in the exercise room. She was using the punching bag to take out her frustrations. _'We get so close then he has to talk about work. I know he has to be concerned, well I guess really concerned, but I'll take care of him. Why does he have to think things will change? Doesn't he know me?'_

Chuck got up showered and headed down stairs. He did not hear Sarah until he was next to the patio, "Hey, morning."

"Good morning, Chuck. You ready to go already?" Sarah was surprised that he was up almost an hour early.

"Yeah, I just couldn't go back to sleep."

Sarah hit the bag a few more times. "So, you want to talk about it."

"Yeah, I guess, but not like this."

Sarah jabbed a couple times, "Why not, we can talk before Casey gets here?"

'_Oh, wrong thing. Wrong thing. I didn't want to talk about this. Now I remember why it was so hard last time this happened.' _Chuck held the bag, "Look I really did not want to talk about that. I mean I don't know how this works. I know Henry's information is in here and it is active. I mean I can get to it. But like when I started with the new Intersect, I was not sure how to control it."

"Chuck, we can help you," Sarah was still smacking the bag.

Chuck thought this was getting hopeless, "No, that's not it. I can't lose…"

Grunt, "Morning." Casey came in and took his place at the exercise mat.

"I talk with you later." Chuck turned and left.

"What's the matter with him?" Casey grunted as he started with his stretches.

"I don't know yet," Sarah start in kicking at the bag.

"Want me to practice a little on him, might be fun?" Casey changed positions.

"No, I'll get him to open up," Sarah answered.

"Yeah, when you do," Casey murmured.

"What?" Sarah looked over at Casey.

"Uh nothing," Casey started with the weights.

"Okay, done. Back down in a little," Sarah left to go up stairs.

Chuck was in the study looking at the drawings again.

"Oh, good morning Chuck," Julia said.

"Morning," Chuck turned to find Julia standing there.

"Did you make the changes to the drawings?" Julia pointed the changes.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it and thought maybe that would help. I would like to super charge the car. What is the point, by the way? Whoever has the fastest car wins?" Chuck looked at Julia.

"Well, it is supposed to be a fun toy. But most everyone thought going fast was fun last year. I had the fastest vehicle." Julia was smiling.

"Well, what happened to it?" Chuck asked. _'Why can't you use the motorcycle from last year?'_

"You stepped on it."

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Chuck was really bewildered.

"We used the engine from my cycle last year to start the truck for this year," Julia was almost crying.

Chuck put his arm around her. "It's okay, we'll get this fixed."

Julia reached up and kissed Chuck, just as Sarah was passing.

"Oh not now," Chuck whispered.

"What?" Julia looked up.

"I mean, have to get to work. We'll try this after we get done. Why don't you ask Fargo over?" Chuck waved and went to the lobby.

"Sarah?" Chuck called. She had already gone upstairs. _'Oh why me?'_

Through breakfast and almost no discussions, Chuck was feeling bad about the day. They went their separate ways. Chuck went up to GD to get back with Zane and see what they could find. Sarah, Casey, Jack and Jo went back to the bunker at Doctor Don's house.

Chuck and Zane were at it for about an hour when Chuck said, "This file comes from Hydroponics. Did Doctor Don work in Hydroponics too?" He was hoping that could be true, maybe that would close the case on the missing secrets from that lab.

Zane looked over and said, "I don't know. Let me check." He got his cell and called Tess. "Hey, Chuck has found a file from Hydroponics. Did Doctor Don work there? Okay, right. Makes sense. Okay, thanks." He closed the phone and looked at Chuck. "Yeah, that's why he named the restaurant what he did."

"Well, I think I am done here for a while. Let's go see the Hydroponics lab. Maybe he has another computer we can check." Chuck closed down what he was doing.

When they got up to the Hydroponics lab Chuck was definitely surprised. The lab was like an indoor water park. There were waterfalls. The pools had fish. And there was some wild life. Chuck found an enclosure with bird nests. Then he realized they were geese and looked like they were laying eggs. He got out his iPhone and took a picture. In a second he sent it off to Sarah and then called her.

"Hi, again."

"Hi Chuck. What do you have?" Sarah was being all business.

Chuck answered, "Well, first we found Doctor Don worked in the Hydroponics lab. We are up here now looking around."

"Oh, that's great Chuck. Hope you find something. We are getting nothing down here." Sarah sounded a little down herself.

"I did find something. Took a picture of it and sent it to you," Chuck was smiling.

"What?" Sarah moved to look at her phone.

"I found the Six Geese a Laying. There is no way you can get these for me. So, I do want something. Okay?" asked Chuck.

"Fine, you won. What do you want?" Sarah wasn't that happy about this.

Chuck said, "Okay, I want you to accept my apology and have a chance to really talk with you and by ourselves with no interruptions, please."

"We can do that after we get back tonight," Sarah replied.

"That would be great. You'll have to come see this. The lab is like a park inside GD. No wonder everyone comes here." Chuck was looking around for Zane. He saw him pointing to some terminals. "Looks like Zane found something. Got to go."

"Okay. See you, Chuck," Sarah ended the call.

Sarah turned to follow the group. They were following the map and had gone at least a mile from the entrance. They had checked every room that they came across.

"Has anyone seen anything?" Jack turned to the group.

He got a resounding, "No."

"Well I think we might as well get Taggart down here. He might be able to track something," Jack commented. "Let's head back this way."

They were headed down a new corridor. Sarah went in one of the rooms off to the side.

"Hey guys, take a look at this," Sarah was shining her flashlight on some boxes. They all came in. Casey saw a light switch.

Jack saw him reach for it. He yelled, "No!" Everything slammed down around them. The door of the room was replaced by one from the ceiling. "Oh, this can't be happening again."

"What just happened?" Casey had his gun out.

"We are trapped in here." Jack turned to Jo, "I thought Fargo was going to fix this."

"Well, obviously it didn't work. Whatever he tried, or didn't." Jo was so upset. "He is going to be dead before sun rise. Zane and I were going."

"What?" Jack asked.

"Never mind, but Fargo is dead." Jo held her gun.

Jack looked at her, sort of exasperated. "You know we are officers of the law. We can't go around saying that."

Sarah turned around and said, "That's okay, we will...no one will know," and winked at Jo.

Casey jumped in, "Okay, enough of that. How do we get out of here?"

"Last time, I had to use a phasing device. Okay, I know this will sound weird but you'll get used to that around here. Anyway, it will let you go through doors. I'll call Tess." Jack got his phone.

While Jack was talking to Tess, Sarah called Chuck, "Chuck, we have a problem."

"What?" Chuck stopped at the terminal.

"We got trapped in one of the rooms down here. Jack is calling Tess. They have something called a phasing device that will let you go through a door. Anyway sounds like a plan. Wanted to make sure you knew and that we are going to be okay," Sarah did not sound that confident.

"Okay, I'll see what is happening," Chuck ended the call.

"No, Chuck?" Sarah looked at the phone. _'I wanted him to know. Not come here with us.'_ She hit redial.

Zane was talking to Tess at the same time, "I'll be right up."

"They're trapped. Know how to get them out?" Chuck looked a Zane.

"Yeah, come on," Zane started running up to Tess' office.

"So, where are they?" Zane asked as he went into the office.

Tess had a diagram up on her wall display. Fargo pointed to it.

"They're down in the tunnels? I thought you were going to fix those doors?" Tess asked.

Fargo just shrugged his shoulders.

Zane said, "You know she'll kill you when she gets out."

"Doctor Fontana, you know I'll do anything to help. I was going to get to the doors and soon as we got the new actuators." Fargo was already hiding behind the chair.

Chuck was over at the other terminal, "You know if we make some minor adjustments to the phasing device, it should be easier. Where is it anyway?"

Tess looked at Chuck, "I am trying to find out. I tried Allison, but have not gotten her. And I have not tracked down Henry yet either. Fargo, go down to Section 5, the science room, and check in the on deck box." She saw Chuck's look, "Baseball fans, the projects that are next to do. You know, on deck."

Chuck nodded. He continued with the terminal and the information about the device. "Hey, those other guys died. What has happened with this thing? What do you have to do to get the doors to go up?"

Zane explained. The door was likely sealed, so they had little time before the oxygen ran out. The generator was old, but could be activated. When it was turned on, the doors would rise.

"Yeah, well there is another problem. You have to have an electronic device on you to produce a spark. By the time someone gets to the generator room they may not be able to press the generator button. So you have to have something on you that produces the spark to get the generator going." Fargo said as he was looking up the specs for something that would work.

"Fargo, go get it," Tess said.

"Okay, but Zane we'll need something like an embedded taser to get the spark that we want. Can you get one?" Fargo left the room.

"Got one, we'll meet you in the infirmary," Zane dashed out of the room.

Chuck continued to review the information on the system. "I guess we can't use your P-Brane dimensional device. You were never able to touch something from our dimension. So, how did you stay on this floor without falling through?" He continued to look.

Tess had a questioned look on her face. Henry came in at the same time.

"What's happened?" Henry looked at Tess.

She explained and they went down to the infirmary. Zane was already there. The device he had was about two inches long and a quarter inch in diameter. Fargo came in smiling.

"Found it, complete with the suit." Fargo held it up, tripped over the suit and dropped the phasing device.

A loud "Fargo" was heard throughout GD.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. Fargo began moving out of the room.

Chuck went over and got the device like it was gold. "Let me see if it is working," he said. He set it on the table and turned it on. The table was still solid. "Okay, Henry did you work on this at all?"

"No, I made the gun to get Jack back in phase," Henry said shaking his head.

Zane was putting the Taser into a dispenser. He looked at Fargo and said, "Let's have Fargo do it this time."

Chuck had already decided. He was not going to take a chance. He knew he could not lose Sarah. He grabbed the dispenser and put it to his arm. He quickly asked, "It's going to hurt, isn't it?"

Zane nodded and Chuck hit the injector button while gritting his teeth.

"Ah ah, you're right. Okay, enough discussion about who will do this. Guys help me get this thing working." Chuck held up the device.

Henry motioned and they followed him to an electronics bench. Chuck opened the device and forced a flash on the design. He was able to use the information from Henry's download like he could from the Intersect. The information with that he had from the design specs he reviewed were enough to identify a broken relay and two adjustments that were needed. He was sure it would work. Turning it on this time, the bench did not stay solid. He was able to pass his hand through it.

"Okay, now where is the quickest way in?" Chuck asked. They ran down to their vehicles. Chuck had the Jeep and they all piled in there. "Now, where?"

Henry said, "Down to the school." Zane nodded.

Tess was talking to Jack to tell him that they were on their way. Chuck cut her off and told her not to tell them who was doing this. She nodded but clearly did not understand.

"Jack wants to know," she said looking at Chuck.

"Okay, tell him that I'll call Sarah as soon as we get there," he said wincing at the pain that would certainly come.

"Jack, Chuck is going to do it. Fargo dropped the device and Chuck put it back together. He has the electric shock system, a taser in him. I know he is. We'll be there in a minute. He said he would call Sarah when we get there. Okay, see in a bit." Tess hung up.

It was good the kids were still in school and there wasn't much traffic. Chuck got to the school in less than ten minutes. Chuck got out of the car and started to follow Zane. He called Sarah on his cell.

"Hi, you okay?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, Chuck." Sarah waited, "Okay, spill it."

"Look, I am sorry, I couldn't take the chance. Can we talk about it tonight?" He was already wincing.

"Okay." Sarah was not sure she would get calm enough to have an actual discussion.

"See you in a couple minutes," Chuck said. He was trying to keep up with Zane.

They got to the door to the tunnels. Chuck tried to pull it up just to make sure.

Zane looked at him, "If you had given us a chance."

Chuck cut him off, "No, there was no question. I can't leave her in there." He looked at Zane. "I know. You couldn't either."

"Well, watch for the knives." Zane's smile grew.

"Don't worry; I'll just not turn this off." Chuck smiled back.

The others caught up with them. Henry said, "Let's set up a conference call so everyone knows where you are and what is happening." He dialed Jack and told him the number to call. They all came up on the conference.

Henry held his hand over the phone. He said, "Okay Chuck. Go straight for about one hundred yards then there will be another door. We will guide you through. While they should have at least another thirty minutes of air left, you have to move pretty fast. We want to get that off of you as soon as we can."

Chuck nodded.

Henry continued, "And don't forget it hurts worse as you get through each door. But you have to force you're way through. At this point we have no other way to save them."

Chuck turn on the phase device, he decided the best way was to just pass through. When he was on the other side in one piece, he said, "Okay, made it though the first one." He started down the corridor. _'Okay, like a game. Made it through the first level. Play gets harder and hits more deadly, but I can make this to get the Princess.'_

"Okay, second door coming up. Going through," he said. Chuck felt like he was pulling himself out of this one, "Ah, grrr, made it." Chuck looked up. "Okay, which way?"

'_He is making it to level three. His power cells are still holding.'_ Chuck kept a good pace. "Here's the next." He tried to push through. It was definitely hurting more. He tried hard not to say anything, but bent over for a second. Finally, he managed to ask, "Now where?"

'_In level three, taking them down one by one.'_ He was passing several doors to rooms that looked empty. "Okay, can see the door." He tried to get up speed to get through. It did not help. It was getting harder to get through and a lot more painful. "Ah grr...," he groaned. He stood up slowly. "Henry, why do you have to be right all the time?"

Chuck said, "There is another door about hundred yards away. Is that the one?"

"Yes, that should be the one. When you get on the other side, you'll see the generators." Henry was trying to be positive.

Chuck was surprised this was it. He wasn't sure if he was ready yet.

'_Okay, he's made it to level four. On the other side of the walled city is the lever to the tower and the Princess. This will work. Just a little rumble on the controller.'_ Chuck gritted his teeth, "Going through." He pushed through the door. This time it seemed like a long time to get through and hurt worse than anything he remembered. "Oh ah," he crumbled to the floor.

"Chuck, you okay?" Henry asked first.

"Chuck?" Sarah was next.

"Hey, I'm up," said Chuck as he got to his feet.

"You can turn off the device now," Henry said.

"Well, that might be helpful." Chuck tried and his hand went through the device. "Next time, let's remember to put a remote switch on it." He moved in the control room. _'Made it to the final level. He just needs to figure out which lever is the right one.' _Chuck looked at the console. A bit puzzled, he asked, "Hey, guys which one is it?"

Henry had not seen the panel. "Jack, do you remember?"

"Shockingly, yes. It is on the right hand side and says start." Jack was trying to make light of it.

'_Okay, the lever. It's golden and leads to the Princess. He made, just one challenge left.'_ He reached out his left hand and said, "Okay here goes." He pinched the start button at the same time he pushed his arm where the taser was located. The flash came out of his fingers; the generators turned over and began to start. The electric charge continued.

"Gu…" was all that came from Chuck. The charge finally stopped, but he was on the floor.

Tess said, "The door is opening here."

Jack replied, "Right it is opening here also. Thanks Chuck."

"Chuck?" Henry tried.

"Chuck?" Sarah called out.

Zane picked up the phase gun from Henry and rushed in. He followed the path as Henry called out.

Zane yelled out, "Chuck…Chuck?" He got to the control room. "Found him. He's on the floor. Henry, can I use the gun on him?"

"We don't have a choice. Go ahead, we'll be there in a minute," Henry said. Henry, Tess and Fargo were hurrying down the corridors.

"Hey, guys what's happening? Can we help?" Jack asked.

"Jack, you are too far away. We are really on the other side of town. You would be better to go back out the way you came. We'll let you know about Chuck in a second," Henry told him.

"Okay, he is solid again. I turned the device off. He is breathing. Maybe it was the taser," Zane said. He was checking Chuck for any other indications of a problem.

Henry, Tess and Fargo got there. Tess bent down to check him. She said, "You are probably right, but we will need to check him. Get those two poles over there and let's make a stretcher. Here give me your coats." Tess put a sleeve down each pole of the each and then zipped the jackets over the poles. When it was together, they put Chuck on it and Fargo and Zane carried him out.

They all met back at GD. About the time they got him in the infirmary Chuck came around. Sarah was already beside him.

"I'm sorry, you okay?" was the first thing from Chuck.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Sarah rubbed his head.

"Better now that you are here." Chuck took her hand.

Henry came over with Doc Ski. Henry said, "Hold on Chuck. There is one other thing to do."

When Chuck had his head toward Sarah, the doctor gave him a shot to numb his arm and then brought a tube looking gun over where the taser was. There was a little blood on his arm when she was done. She held the taser up so Chuck could see it.

"Okay, well that's strange." Chuck was moving his arm but did not feel anything.

Doc Ski said, "You should have your feeling back in about thirty minutes."

"Well, then can I go?" Chuck asked.

"First, I want you to get some rest. Henry told me what you did. I gave you a bit of pain reliever and something to help you sleep." She motioned to Sarah. Doc Ski said, "He will be asleep till tomorrow morning. Then should wake up and be okay. But his body needed the rest after what he did. He'll be okay."

Sarah went back over to Chuck. He was already asleep. "Tomorrow morning?"

"Almost 6:00 AM on the dot. It is time released and then has something to wake him up so we can check him. If he is okay, we will release him," Doc Ski said, then had to leave for another patient.

Sarah looked at Chuck again and rubbed his forehead. _'Why can't we get you to stay in the car? You don't always have to be the one. There are others around. You mean so much to me.' _She kissed him and looked at the clock.

Zane walked in then and asked, "Hey how is he?"

"Okay, but the doctor gave him something that will keep him asleep until six in the morning." Sarah looked at Zane for an explanation.

"Oh, they do that around here. They get everything timed so they can keep a schedule," Zane shrugged.

"Oh, thanks," Sarah replied.

"Well, thank you. Actually I mean Chuck. We were trying to get Fargo to do it, since he got you in the mess. He was supposed to fix it so those doors would not come down. Anyway Chuck got a determined look on his face and put the taser in his arm." Zane looked at Sarah as he explained, "He loves you and wouldn't take the chance. I wouldn't have either. He's managed to save you and Jo twice." Then he thought of something to brighten her smile. Zane said, "Oh, one other thing, Jo said she has first dibs on Fargo. She was holding her side arm when she said it." He smiled and Sarah smiled back.

Casey came in next.

_A/N Has not snowed any more. But it is still very cold. The Elves are out there trying to get the reindeer hitched to the sleigh. Don't think it will work. They are using someone Christmas garland. Please review. _


	10. Chapter 6b Reflection

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 6b—Day 6 Reflection**

Sarah smiled at Zane for telling her that Jo wanted first crack at Fargo. Sarah sat next to Chuck holding his hand.

Casey came in next to see how Chuck was doing. "So, is he alright?"

Doc Ski came up and said, "Yes, he will be fine. That phased device may get you through those doors but by the time he was done, the nerves all over his body were getting triggered at the same time. The pain must have been close to something that would drive people crazy. Then the taser was just a little too close to the heart. His heart may have stopped between the taser and the phase gun. We are trying to make sure there are no latent problems."

Sarah looked over at Casey. With an imperceptible nod they agreed, they were going to kill him.

Casey said to Sarah, "I'll stay for a little, if you need to do something." His eyes went toward Doc Ski.

Sarah smiled, "Right, I need to check something in town. See you for dinner at the Café?"

Casey grunted.

Sarah got in her car. _'What am I going to do with you Chuck? I know we are partners now, but I can't and Beckman would never allow the Intersect to be this compromised. You have come too close to being killed, twice.'_

Sarah was driving on the main street now, past all of the shops and their Christmas sales. There was a shop with holiday dresses and a white flowing dress to one side. She had turned to the street leading to the B&B.

'_The last time I thought we were close to being done, I thought we were going to have everything. Your sister was getting married. I really thought we could somehow be normal. You saved the day. Then you put the Intersect back in. I just haven't known what to do. Now I think we have a chance. Fulcrum is almost gone. And I don't know what to do.'_

She was headed to the B&B and decided just to cruise around. Chuck was right the Christmas lights were special. This seemed like the towns she remembered from her childhood. _'Why can they have a normal town? Well, also most normal, and everything we do has to be on the edge. Just like Dad, everything on the edge. Nothing can be normal, because we have to move. Always in danger. Why does Chuck always put himself in danger? He never stays in the car? If that doctor is right, I almost lost him.'_

Sarah was amazed at the decorations. There was a house all in white lights. Then the lights changed colors with the Christmas music that was playing. The next house had Santa half way down the chimney and the reindeers staining to help pull him out. The house across the street had all of the pine trees decorated with lights and large Christmas ornaments. The next house was decorated like a present. The house siding was striped like Christmas wrapping paper. A bright golden ribbon with lights wrapped the house with a huge bow on top.

'_Okay, what if…oh what if we could be just like everyone here. I know there is the greater good that Casey bangs on about, but some of that greater good has to be for us.' _

She went past the town church. It had a hologram nativity scene. The angels and shepherds seemed to move, then the scene would shift and the three wisemen would appear to be going toward the manger.

'_This is so beautiful. Why can't we have that peace? I almost lose you and now you have another download. There has to be an answer.'_

She was on the main street of the town again.

'_We have to talk and I know we have to talk about us. How am I going to do this? I want him to remember everything. I cannot lose him in what we may still have to do? How do I get it to be us?'_

She was a bit early to the Café and walked into Nick's shop next door. She was looking from case to case. And then she saw it, a two carat, round cut the engagement ring.

Nick saw her and said, "Nice isn't it. This one is real." He got it out for her. "Want to try it on?"

"Oh no, I couldn't," Sarah said.

Nick said, "Well okay, someday I am sure you will." Nick looked up to her in a small smile. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Sarah looked up, "Well, yes. You know Chuck, he already brought a few things here." She pointed to the earrings.

Nick said with his hand folded, "Oh yes, you know I want you to make sure you tell him thank you. I mean that in a big way. My granddaughter was sick with the flu. I heard what he did. We owe him a great deal.

"Where is he?" Nick asked.

Sarah was almost in tears, _'All I ever thought about was me. I never even thought about everyone else in town. He did.'_

Sarah took a step back, "Chuck is in the infirmary resting. He saved us again today down in a maze of tunnels below the town."

Nick said, "I take it that he is alright. I know you wouldn't be here if there was something wrong." His face brightened, "I have just the thing."

Sarah's smile came back.

_A/N Okay, all fluff. Just a small Christmas peanut butter cookie. Next full chapter up tomorrow._

_The Elves said they would like to know what you thought of their baking. _


	11. Chapter 7 Seven Swans

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 7—Seven Swans a Swimming**

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck woke up right at six in the morning. He looked to the side and saw Sarah sitting there. He reached for her hand and she looked up at him.

"Morning, you okay?" he said. Chuck took her hand to his chest.

"Yes, Chuck. How about you?" She stood next to him.

"I'm fine." He was about to get up when the doctor came over.

It was a quick check. The readings were already on the status display and linked to her note pad. She checked the left arm and asked Chuck to raise and lower it and make a fist. "Well, do you feel alright? Any problems?"

"Feel fine. Nothing is wrong." Chuck was hoping to get out.

"Okay, you can go," the doctor said and walked away.

"Great." Chuck slid out of the bed and got the robe. He put that on and got his clothes. "I'll go change. But can we go back by the B&B? I would like to shower and shave. Then can we go get something to eat?" He looked at the clock. It read 0600. He asked, "Breakfast okay?"

"Sounds good," Sarah said getting her coat and things.

When Chuck got done, he walked out of the infirmary with Sarah. He brightened a bit and said, "Hey let's stop by Hydroponics and I'll show you the geese."

"Oh, we don't have to do that. I know that was a real picture," Sarah said.

"No, it is so nice there and warm. I just wanted to show you. It's on the way," he said pointing down the hall.

They walked into the lab. The light, a simulated sun, was just beginning to shine through the waterfalls. Sarah looked at it and turned around to Chuck. _'Oh wow, that's what I did that for yesterday. She is just so amazingly beautiful.' _He got his iPhone and took a quick picture before she could say anything.

"Okay, put the camera away," she said when she turned. "But this is really spectacular." She spread her hands out at the whole lab.

"Come here I'll show you the nests. Oh, look there. There are some little ones in the water." Chuck pointed to the other side of the pond.

Then the large white swan swam into view. Chuck knew immediately and said, "Seven swans a swimming." He smiled.

"What you saw that yesterday and saved it till today?" Sarah asked almost accusing him.

"No, see that's what I saw." He pointed to the geese and their nests. One mother had a newborn and was feeding it.

"Okay, I am sorry. You won. What would you like?" Sarah said.

"Well, I would still like to have the things from yesterday. For today, I'll add your forgiveness," Chuck replied. He was looking at her trying to decide whether that was a good choice.

"What?"

"For yesterday, nothing went right. I had to do that. I knew you would not want me to do it. But I couldn't take the chance," his eyes were searching when he said it. He took both her hands. He saw one of the lab techs coming their way. "Can we talk about it more tonight?"

"Sure. And I know." Sarah waited for the lab tech. She said, "Morning, we are just passing through. It sure is pretty."

"Thank you and good morning," the tech answered. He just kept walking.

**B&B**

Chuck and Sarah went back to the B&B. Sarah waited downstairs. Julia came down. She said, "Oh, good morning."

"Morning," replied Sarah.

"Everything alright? Need anything?" Julia asked.

"No, I am just waiting on Chuck."

"Oh, he is so great. I talked to Fargo last night. He told me what Chuck did. Chuck didn't even ask. He just did it. How romantic. I could only hope that Fargo would do that for me," Julia said getting her coat. "You know, even after what Fargo did with our truck, Chuck is helping us. He made some design changes to the drawings. We used that last night to start on a DeLoran. It is coming together. It seems easier to build and looks like a winner. Please tell him thanks again," she said before she walked out the door.

Sarah walked around the first floor. No one else was there. She went to the kitchen. Nothing was turned on, not even the coffee pot. She got the newspaper that was on the counter.

Chuck came down in just a little. He heard the paper rustle and went to the kitchen. "Ready to go?" She said.

"Yes, thanks." Chuck waited for Sarah and asked, "Where is Casey?"

"He went with Jack and Fargo. They are going to make sure the doors would not come back down in the tunnel. Then he was going to go back to the room we were in," Sarah said heading for the door.

**Café Diem**

When they got to Café Diem, Chuck got pancakes, eggs and bacon. Sarah got pancakes and bacon. Zoe came over.

"Everyone heard what happened. Sarah, are you okay?" Zoe asked.

"Oh sure," she answered.

"I was down there too. We were trapped in the control room. That was terrible. If Dad hadn't gone through those doors, I wouldn't be here. We were almost out of air. You probably had less time. If Chuck hadn't acted fast, and fixed the phase device. Well, I'm so happy you are okay," Zoe said almost beaming.

"Thank you. I am glad you got out, too," Sarah said with a smile.

Chuck looked over at Sarah. He got her in between bites. She was just staring in the kitchen. Chuck asked, "So, what are we going to do today?"

"Well, why don't you go up to GD and look at their computers some more? Maybe you'll find something." Sarah wiped some of the syrup onto her pancake.

"Can you come with me? Maybe you can see something that I missed? With Casey and Jack looking at the room, that is pretty well covered. Casey knows enough about explosives that he won't miss anything." Chuck watched as Sarah took her bite.

"You are right. I'll go with you," she said. She took out her phone. "Casey, right. I am going to go with Chuck up to GD. What? Where at? Okay, we'll head over."

"Now what?" Chuck asked and took what he thought would be his last sip of coffee.

"Jo has a problem over on the other side of town. There has been an explosion and a fire. We need to go." Sarah answered and had one more bite.

Vincent came over. "Here, I heard what you did too. I made it like you two have been drinking it."

"Great, thank you very much," Chuck said and got the thermos.

**Burning House**

Sarah and Chuck drove over to the other side of the town. Henry was already there and had put the fire out. He was the local fire department in his off hours.

Chuck and Sarah got out of her car.

Jo came over, "Nice ride."

"What happened? Casey told us to come over," Sarah told her.

"Haven't figured it out yet. I don't think there was anyone in the house. It has been empty for a couple of months," Jo said and motioned them to follow her.

Chuck asked, "How do you know that no one came in?"

"The empty houses have monitor systems. We would know if anyone came in and if they tried to by pass the system." Jo kept walking to the house.

"So, what caught fire?" Chuck continued.

"It was the detached garage," Jo said as she pointed to the driveway.

"Right." Chuck went around the burnt hole in the ground. He asked, "So, did the explosion cause the fire?"

"I think so." Jo said.

"Jo, that's a bomb crater. Only from a bomb dropped from the sky," Sarah said. She bent down to look at the rim of the crater. "I'll call and see if there was anything near by." Sarah got out her phone, "Walker secure. Yes General, we are still in Eureka. There was an explosion at one of the houses. It looks like a hundred pound bomb. The house was vacant. Could you have your folks check to see if there was anything exercises or something in this area?"

Chuck asked Jo, "So whose house was it?"

"It belonged to one of the teachers over at the High School. Mrs. Tammers was one of the English teachers. She left a couple months ago when her mother got sick back east some place," Jo said when she looked over at Chuck.

"Can't be that easy? Sarah, did you get anything?" Chuck asked. She was still on the phone.

"No, I'm on hold trying to find out." Sarah put her hand over the phone.

Chuck pulled out his phone. He dialed and waited a while, "Hey Dad, its Chuck. Call me back secure when you can. We got a little problem you might be able to help with."

Chuck asked, "A teacher? Jo, call Zane. Tell him we need to go to the game room at GD. We are heading that way and need access."

Sarah heard him, "Chuck, what are you talking about? They aren't going to have a game room in GD."

Jo looked over, "Not that I've heard either."

Chuck said, "Believe me, with as many people they have like Zane and I, there is a game room. And I don't mean for cards or ping pong." He moved to the car. He knew he still would not drive. This was Sarah's car. "You drive; I'll listen to the phone until they get back. Jo, you better tell Jack to meet us at GD. See if you can find anything that would look like a piece of the bomb casing. If you find it, bring it up to GD and we can confirm this."

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck and Sarah headed up to GD. Chuck was still on the line when they got there. Finally, when he gave the phone back to Sarah, they confirmed what Chuck thought. She said, "Yes, thank you. We will see if there is any connection and get back with you."

"Let me guess, someone has lost their armed UAV from a test range. Right?" Chuck was smiling.

Sarah said, "Yes, come on."

They got into GD and met Zane in Tess' office.

Tess asked if this was a GD problem. They all said that they did not know but GD assets would likely be needed. She went with them.

The lab was on the third level in an area that wasn't used much. There was a wall of computers and another wall of extra-large screens. Off to one side they saw a blue outfit with sensors and a hologram head set. Fargo was sitting at one of the consoles with a head set on.

"Fargo!" He jumped around to see who it was. Tess marched up to him and pulled off the headset. She asked, "Fargo, what are you doing here?"

"What, it's my break. I come down every other day to play," Fargo said pointing at the screen.

Chuck and Zane came up. Chuck asked, "Who are you playing against?" There was no one else in the room.

"Oh well, I think he is a kid in high school. But I am going to beat him one of these days."

Chuck just shook his head. He said, "Zane here's the frequency we are looking for. Dad and I told them that they needed some changes, but this one must still be in use. See if you can find whether this equipment would use the frequency."

"Casey, let's go secure. Chuck secure. Okay, the house that was bombed may have been hit by a UAV. See if you can get your friends to check that frequency that Dad was using. I am guessing it is coming from around here. Call us when you find out," he requested.

"Zane, have you got anything?" Chuck called out.

"Not yet," Zane called back. Zane was checking all the equipment and then checking the network on each of the stations.

Sarah looked at Chuck, "We can't let them bomb someplace else."

Chuck nodded his head, "Fargo, what game are you playing?"

"We call it global attack and defense or GAD. You either defend or attack. You get points from defending you targets over time or taking out the targets if you are on the other side. I am defense now. He only got through once and it was a low priority target." Fargo said. He was happy about what he had done.

"Sarah, until we know different, we have to assume this is real. Whoever the other gamer is may or may not know they have control of a real UAV that is armed. If I am right, the attacker can actually bomb something. So if it gets through, a real bomb is dropped." Chuck looked at Zane, "Do you agreed?"

"Yeah guys. This sounds real. What did you get into, Fargo?" Zane was still looking.

Tess came over to Fargo's position and asked, "So what do we need to do?"

"Win the game," answered Fargo.

"Fargo!"

"No, he is probably right. We win. The other player will not be able to use the UAV," Chuck said. "Fargo, can we team up on him? Does this allow more than one player?"

"Well yeah, we can go four on four." Fargo pointed to the other consoles that would work.

"Does Julia play?" Chuck asked. He needed more players.

"Yes," Fargo answered.

Chuck began to give directions, he said, "Okay, Zane see if you agree. First, Tess get Jack to launch Martha. I'll have a program to load when he is ready. We will have it hunt down the UAV. Sarah, have Casey come back. He is a real pilot. That might help at the controls. Tess, get Julia to get down here. Zane, come on over and log in as a defender. Let's see, if we can tilt the scales."

It was working. Zane and Fargo were holding off the attacker. When Julia came it was easier. Jack got Martha ready and Chuck set it up to get Martha's sensor download and give her directions. When Casey got there, the fourth player may have trigger something but there were now four attackers playing against them. It was harder to control. Fargo let one through. Its target was a stationary tank, gone in a second. Jo called and told them someone had just blown up her patrol car.

Chuck said, "Sarah, come here. When you see a UAV, push this button." Chuck got in back of Fargo. He tapped him on the shoulder. "My turn." Fargo gave him the controls. Chuck made it an even battle very quickly by downing three of the attackers.

Sarah said, "I have it." Chuck looked over and confirmed it was the right target, so did Casey.

"Take the shot, Sarah" Chuck and Casey said. She pushed the button.

Casey's phone rang, "Casey secure." He copied the information. "Copy. Thanks." He turned around and gave Jack the information. He said, "Take Sarah with you."

Chuck was not sure. The game was still going. "Tess, take Sarah's position. If Martha see another UAV, don't ask just go ahead and take it out."

One of the attackers had slipped through while Casey was on the phone. Chuck noticed it. It was trying to get a lock on a tank that was moving.

Chuck said, "Everyone fall back on me, they are going after the Sheriffs car. Casey, get the guy at three o'clock. Zane, there is one coming in low at your eleven o'clock. Julia, pull up hard, roll right and dive. Take it all the way to the floor and roll out to the left. Good. Got the one on your tail. Where's the fourth one? There he is. Julia, straight ahead, take him. Very good, good hunting."

Everyone was getting settled. Chuck said, "Let's regroup. I don't know if this is over yet. Hey Fargo, how long do you normally go?"

Fargo looked down. "About an hour." It had been fifty minutes ago when he started.

"Tess, how are you and Martha doing over there? See anything?" Chuck asked.

"Nothing. Sky looks clear." She moved her sensors around again.

Jack called Tess. She put it on the speaker. "We are at the building. Sarah said there is a five foot dish out back. She wants to know whether that is the right size."

Chuck and Casey nodded. Tess said, "Yes, that would be it."

Jack said, "Okay, we are going in." Jack left the phone on. "Open up, its Sheriff Carter." They waited a second and then took the door.

Jack went in first. Sarah came in behind and went right. Jack went around the archway to the living room. There were four teenagers playing their video game.

Jack went over a carefully removed the headset from the first. He said, "You are under arrest." And did the same with the next three. Sarah went over and turned off the gaming console.

"Okay, that should do it." Jack reached for his phone. He said, "We turned off their gaming console. Did that end it?'

Tess said, "Yes, be careful." She watched as the four of them were giving each other a high five. She was surprised to see Casey do it.

Casey got next to Chuck. He said, "Bartowski, I haven't had that much fun since I was an aggressor at Red Flag."

Julia ran over to Fargo, "I got him." Fargo gave her a kiss. It lasted for a while.

Casey got another call, "Casey secure. Yes ma'am, it was downed. Copy, we'll get it and guide it back. Ma'am, you know you have to get them to change the control. Or we tell the Director to get them grounded. Yes, Ma'am. I'll tell everyone."

Casey turned around and told everyone that the Generals asked him to pass along their congratulations. Chuck and Zane went down to the house where the teenagers were. They connected to the dish and successfully returned the other UAV to government control.

Later Chuck called Ellie. This time he got Sarah to talk with his sister. Sarah said, "Hi Ellie, oh we are doing fine. Yeah, feel a lot better. Sorry, we did not call yesterday. Chuck fell asleep after we went exploring. How's things there. Okay. Good talking to you too. Bye."

**Café Diem**

The whole crew went to Café Diem that night. Sarah stopped Chuck from getting out of the car. She said, "I know you want to talk and so do I, but I wanted to get you something. You have won three in a row. The tunnel maze and the rings are things I'll never forget, and I don't want you to either." She gave him a nicely decorated box. "Please open it."

As he did, his eyes got bigger. "Wow, this is. Wow, thanks. It is fantastic." It was a large gold puzzle ring. She slipped it on his right ring finger. He bent over and gave her a long passionate kiss. "You know you were the spark. I could not let something happen to you. And then everyone else, but all of it was for you."

Sarah said softly, "I know." She kissed him again. "Come on, we'll talk after the party."

Chuck remembered the old parties Ellie and he went to with his dad. Everyone would dress up so nice. He had a Brooks Brothers suit from their new winter collection, a classic dress shirt and black dress shoes.

Chuck was impressed with Sarah as he always was. She looked beautiful tonight. But then he realized that all of the female companions were unusually stunning. Sarah had a very chic one-piece black dress. It accented the necklace and the earrings. Her hair was full and looked like she just had it curled.

Tess wore a silver one-piece with a sheath of a sparkle. She had a sophisticated one strand pearl necklace. Jo had a black dress with a ruffle off the shoulder and around the bottom. She had a double strand of black pearls around her neck and matching earrings with strings of smaller pearls. Even Julia was there. She had a short red dress with white pearls. Her hair was not up in a bun like normal, but was curled and looked as fluffy as Sarah's. Tess had called Allison for a surprise guest. She wore a delicate off white blouse with a red jacket and matching skirt.

But the real surprise for Chuck was seeing Doc Ski sit with Casey.

The other gentlemen gathered for the dinner were as well dress as their counter parts. Zane and Fargo wore suits. It was the first time that Jo had seen Zane in a suit. Fargo, of course, complemented his suit with a Santa Claus tie. Jack, Casey, and Henry were distinguished in their dark suits.

Vincent knew they were coming. He was going to ensure they had the best meal of the year. Tess had told him to plan for it like it was their Christmas party. Jack was not entirely sure he liked this. Zoe and Lucas were watching Allison's boy and her new baby back at his house. His only hope was that SARAH kept up with her programming to keep all the kids a part.

The gentlemen assisted the ladies take their seats. Each of them took their seats. Casey was the last to sit down.

_A/N After the cookies, had to let the Elves play with the videogames. They kept thinking the UAV would give them a ride home. Please review. _

_It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing._


	12. Chapter 8 Eight Maids

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 8—Eight Maids a Milking**

**Café Diem**

Chuck woke up right at six in the morning. He looked to the side and saw Sarah sitting next to him. Actually she was slumped over lying against him. The whole crew that went to Café Diem was still sitting in various positions and asleep. Chuck again remembered the old parties Ellie and he went to with his dad. This did not happen. Well, there was that one guy.

Chuck was still in a suit. Sarah still looked beautiful. But then he realized that all of his companions were sleeping like they were tranquilized. He took out his handkerchief and blew his nose. It seemed kind of dusty around there. He tried Sarah first but could not get her to wake up. He carefully carried her to one of the corner booths and laid her down. The he took his coat off and put it over her. Next he tried Tess. Again, he got no response. He moved her to the other side of the booth.

When Chuck got to Jack, Jack came around. Chuck asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Jack asked.

"We all went to sleep. Somehow we were tranquilized. I don't know how," Chuck responded.

Chuck and Jack checked everyone else and put them either on the floor or over in a booth.

Jack found Vincent on the floor in the kitchen. He tried to revive him and thought it might be working. He kept trying. He sprinkled water on his face, and thought about smelling salts. Finally when he started to get up, Vincent woke up.

"Sheriff, what happened?" Vincent asked a bit groggily.

"I don't know. I was hoping you might." Jack said.

Jack reached into his pocket and got his cell phone. He called the front desk at GD. "Hi, this is Sheriff Carter. I am here at Café Diem with Doctor Fontana, Doctor Blake and several others. They are all asleep and have been since we sat down to eat last night at dinner. Is there any other unusual activity being reported? Oh, okay. Well, could you get a couple of people from the infirmary to come here. I think if we get them awake we will be alright. So, how many people are missing? And how many have called in? Okay, thanks."

He turned to Vincent and said, "This same thing happened in several houses across town. No one knows why yet, and no one knows why it did not happen at the other houses."

Vincent said, "Well, I don't know what it could have been here. I don't think any of you had started to eat. I was turned around here checking the oven when I felt light headed and fell down." Vincent showed him which way he was standing. "Oh, what about Allison's kids."

"SARAH, how are the children doing? Are they still all asleep. Anything happen? Did they go to sleep normally? Let me talk with Zoe.

"Hi, I am over at Café Diem with Vincent, Chuck and the people from the dinner last night. Last night when we sat down to eat, we got tranquilized. We have all been asleep since. Right now Vincent, Chuck and I are the only ones awake. Are you guys okay? Okay. I'd say come over here but I don't think we should expose you or Allison's baby. Can you handle it there? We'll call as soon as we can. Yeah. Bye." Jack put the phone away.

Chuck came into the kitchen and started looking around. He asked, "Vincent, none of your food is burnt. How does that work?"

"Oh, well most of this is AI. I just say what we are cooking and which burner I am using. My little secret back here is the only thing I have to do is stir and put in the right spices and flavors." Vincent said. He went around checking all the dishes. "They are all dried out and spoiled."

Chuck said, "Okay, I am not a detective, but we should leave the food so we can have that analyzed. I am going to look outside. Then let's look around and see if we come across anything."

Jack agreed, "I go over to the office see if anything other reports have come in."

Chuck got out the front door. He looked down the street and only saw a couple cars moving in the streets. He went to the jewelry store and saw a sign. "Need help at the dairy. If you can, please come. Happy Holidays. Nick" Chuck thought that strange and then, _'no that's normal for around here. I wonder what is wrong.'_

Vincent was waiting at the door for him. Jack was just coming back. Chuck noticed the odor when he came back in the restaurant. Chuck asked Jack, "Did you smell that?"

Jack shook his head, "Haven't been able to smell anything since Zoe tried that new Moonlight perfume. They said, it would return to normal in another day," he was pointing at his nose.

Chuck said, "Hey, Vincent come on outside with me." Vincent followed Chuck out the door.

Chuck decided he might as well check on something while he was out here. He walked over to the jewelry store. He asked, "Vincent, do you know who owns this store?"

"Oh, yeah. It's Nick. He moved in a couple months ago. He's a doctor of agriculture specializing in dairy cows. Why?" Vincent wondered.

Chuck pointed to the sign, "Oh, I am going to go out and help him with whatever, just as soon as we get this figured out." Chuck was blowing his nose, "Great now I am starting to get a cold. But I thought I smelled something different when I went back in the store last time. I only got a whiff then lost the scent. So if your nostrils are clear, let's go back inside."

Vincent said, "Oh, I am ready." He followed Chuck.

Chuck opened the door and caught the smell. He tried to place it but was having a hard time.

Vincent came in and filled his lungs. He said, "Oh, I know exactly what that is. It's the pine incense I put out last night." He went over to incense and found that they were burned away. "I have another box over here. Do you want me to light one?"

"Oh no, please keep them in the box for now," Chuck said.

Jack came over and said, "Let me see those. We'll have the medical folks run a test on them."

Jack went around checking on everyone.

Chuck went over to the table to check on the placement of the incense. _'Well, that does not help. They are all over the table. Why didn't we notice that last night?'_

The staff from the infirmary came in the restaurant. Each instantly had a funny look on their face.

Chuck called to them, "It's the incense. We think it had something that tranquilized us last night." He pointed to everyone.

They went around and checked everyone. The medic said, "You're right, it is a tranquilizer. We'll give them something that should wake them in ten minutes. Have you got one of those cones?"

Jack said, "Sure. What is your name?" He handed him the box.

"Hi, I am Bob Cawthers." He cut a piece of the incense off and put it in an analyzer. He took a look at the readings. "Right this was the source."

Chuck got Jack's attention and shook his head slightly.

Jack just said, "Thanks."

The staff waited for everyone to wake up. They checked with Doc Ski and left.

Jack looked at Tess, "I'll explain. But we need to do some things really quick. We were all tranquilized last night. It was in the incense that Vincent was burning." He looked at Allison, "I checked on the kids, they are okay. When I checked at GD, this seemed to be wide spread. It could be a large scale theft. Tess, have your guards at GD lock everything until we can verify nothing has been stolen. Jo and Henry, you'll need to do the same thing for the town. Vincent, where did you get the incense?"

Chuck added, "Please run a check on Bob Cawthers."

Vincent answered, "Over at the decoration shop of Doctor Don. They were a new item yesterday."

"So did the guy from the infirmary work there?" Chuck wondered out loud.

"Well, yes," Vincent said.

Chuck looked at Jack, "Okay, I think you'll find that he is likely the other person we were looking for."

Everyone went to work the problem. They all made quick trips to change while directing activities to check everything. Sarah and Casey went out with Jack, Jo and Henry to try and make sure the town was safe. Zane, Fargo and Julia went to GD with Tess. Allison went back to pick up her children and relieve Zoe and Lucas. Chuck told Sarah he was going to check on their friendly Jeweler.

Chuck was right. Bob did not go back to work. Jack and Jo pulled up to his house. They got out of the cars along with Casey, Sarah and Henry. Bob was trying to gather his collection and put it into the back of his van.

Jack said, "Hey Bob, what all do you have there?"

Bob dropped his package and started to run. Jo took a flying leap and tackled him.

Casey put his gun back in the holster and grumbled, "Thought I was going to have a little more fun today."

**Nick's farm**

Chuck asked Vincent for directions and got to Nick's farm. He drove up the long dirt road to the farm house. When he got out of the Jeep, he saw the barn around back. Chuck tried the farm hose front door first and a small video display came on.

Nick showed up on the video, "Morning, we are around back in the barn. Please come back and join us. Happy Holidays."

Chuck went around to the barn and saw that the door was open. He walked inside and saw Nick there. He was carrying two buckets over to a big vat.

"Well, good morning and thanks for coming," Nick said. He poured the white liquid into the vat and put down the bucket. "Thank you from my whole family for what you did to stop the flu." He over and vigorously shook Chuck's hand and patted him on the back.

"Oh, you are welcome," Chuck was finally able to disengage. "I saw your sign that you needed some help and thought I'd stop by to see what I could do," Chuck said. He looked down the length of the barn and saw about twenty cows in their pens. "What are you doing?"

Nick answered, "The darn compressor went out on me again. I can't get enough suction to milk the cows. And I have to milk these babies everyday or they lose their production rate." He finished pouring the buckets.

"I might be able to fix it if the problem is an electrical control," Chuck offered.

Nick looked up at Chuck, "Well, I have had a call into Henry. You know him? Last time he said if it broke again he would have to replace the value flapper intake. Of course it is an inexpensive part, only five dollars, but I have to have Henry bring it and put it in."

"Then what do you need?" Chuck asked. He was at a loss.

"I need help milking the cows," Nick gave in a quick reply.

"Oh, I…I've never done that." Chuck said as his eyes were getting wider.

"Come on," Nick walked down to the second cow. "I got some of the girls from around here to help because school got cancelled today. Vicky can show you how." He pointed to the cows on the other side of the barn.

Chuck smiled when he saw Vicky, because down the line he had the Eight Maids a Milking. He got out his phone and took a quick picture and sent it to Sarah with a note.

Vicky watched him. She said, "We do need help. Nick's cows are genetically enhanced milkers. They'll produce four times as much as a normal cow and the milk is essentially the same. But he hasn't figured a way to get it out four times faster. Here I'll show you. Betty II is almost done."

Vicky had him lubricate his hands and sit were she was and then showed him how to squeeze the milk out of the teats. Chuck was trying hard not to look embarrassed or act foolish. He seemed to get into the rhythm of it and Vicky left him.

"Wait, how do I know when I am done?" Chuck called out.

Vicky looked back and said, "When the utter looks deflated. You should be able to tell."

When Chuck finished Betty II and Betty III, Nick pointed to the next one, Betty IV.

Chuck's hands were so sore from the constant squeezing that he could barely hold the phone. "Sarah, help. I sent you the picture of the eight maids a milking. Well, that's what we are doing. I desperately need Henry to come fix a compressor here, or we need more help milking these cows. My arms are about to fall off," Chuck pleaded.

"Okay. We are done here. Bob Cawthers was caught with the goods and is being taken by the FBI. I will ask Henry. I'll come up too," Sarah said with a twinkle in her voice.

Chuck went back to milking Betty IV. In a little while Sarah came into the barn, she talked to Nick and he pointed to where Chuck was sitting.

Sarah said, "Hi." Chuck looked up and Sarah took a picture too.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Is Henry coming?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, he should be here in a second. When I told him Nick needed him and you were milking the cows he knew exactly what was wrong. He said he would stop by his garage and then be right out," Sarah affirmed and smiled at him.

Chuck said, "Well I am about half way done here. Do you want to learn how?"

"Sure, I'll help," Sarah nodded.

Chuck went through the same explanation as Vicky but when he held Sarah's hands to show her how to squeeze, he became a bit flustered and backed off. He managed to do so without out drawing Sarah's attention.

"Okay, looks like you have it," Chuck said as he stepped back.

"How many more are there?" Sarah was looking at the rest of the barn.

Chuck said, "Well, Nick said that he has another twenty to bring into the barn." He went over to clean his hands and get ready for Betty V.

It was another half hour before Henry got there and fixed the compressor. Nick had everything up and running shortly after that. Sarah and Chuck left for the B&B.

Chuck thought he would catch Ellie in between shifts. When he called she was in a bad mood. One of her patients was not responding and she was getting grief from everyone. She took it out on Chuck and kept asking when he was coming back. He tried to explain but it wasn't working.

They picked up Casey at the B&B and headed for GD.

**Global Dynamics**

Sarah, Chuck and Casey were in the 5AC2. Chuck was reviewing everything that happened to see where they were on tracking down the bomb.

Chuck was scratching down the information. He said, "So we know that Doctor Marostego or Don Mark O is behind the bombs. His probable partner in crime was Bob Cawthers. Do you think the FBI will get anything out of him?"

Casey postulated, "Actually, I am not really sure about him. If he was a real Fulcrum agent, I would definitely say no. But he was real nervous when Jack arrested him. The FBI might get something out of him." Casey was rubbing his chin.

"Okay, so we know where he got the C4 from and how he got it out of GD. He took it to his house and down in the tunnel. Casey, did you get back to the room where you were held in the tunnel?" Chuck asked.

"No, we barely got the doors fixed when we had to come back and play video games," Casey smiled.

Chuck said, "Well, we still need to get back there. Did anyone look into the bomb sniffing dogs? Who is Taggart anyway?" Chuck saw that Sarah and Casey shook their heads. He wrote that down under the 'to do list'.

"I think Zane and I pretty well scrubbed the Bio and Weapons labs. We could spend some more time in the Hydro lab." Chuck looked at Casey. He asked, "Was there enough in what Cawthers had to pin the thefts in the Hydro lab to him?"

"Yeah, Jack was happy with what he had," replied Casey.

"So, our loose ends are we don't know where the bombs are; we don't know where he made them, and we don't know why he was in the Hydroponics lab." Chuck and the rest spun around as soon as he said that.

"Thank you for summarizing, Chuck." The two generals appeared on the screen. "We only have a few days left," said General Beckman.

"Doctor Fontana has been asking everyday whether she should go ahead and evacuate. So, far I have been putting her off. Do we need to evacuate or are you going to find this?" General Mansfield leaned into the camera.

"Generals, I know there are concerns that if GD and the town are evacuated we will never be able to reassemble this project, and that there would be significant loss of materials and ideas. But this is a bit different than when we started out. We are now confident that there is a significant amount of C4 in the town. We just have not found it," Sarah said trying to explain their concerns. "It is more apparent now than when we started. There is a real safety issue. We would still recommend some kind of evacuation until we know for sure."

"No. That's not possible right now. In two days we have we have a major weapons demonstration. All of the equipment and people are needed at GD and Eureka. That has to go through. Then if you don't find the bomb, we will evacuate." General Mansfield was pointing at them.

Casey then asked, "General, can you send us some bomb sniffing dogs? We need them for the tunnels and if we find out what the delivery system is, it will be easier to find it."

"We'll get you some help Colonel," General Mansfield said.

"Is there anything else?" Asked General Beckman. The screen went blank.

"Well, that was helpful! Who cares about the bomb, we'll keep everyone there. You can find it faster, can't you? What about the Ring Agent? Do you think he was the only one? How would we figure that out? Then, what do we do about the surveillance machine and its recordings?" Chuck asked as he was drawing circles in the center of his paper.

"Chuck, I am sorry. You are right. We could still be facing a Ring Agent. But we don't know." Sarah moved to close to Chuck.

Casey standing behind Chuck pulled out a tranq dart. Sarah shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I just hate it when she cuts us off. But they are right, the first priority is the bomb." Chuck said.

She asked, "Chuck, what do you think we should be doing first?"

"I'll head back up to Hydroponics. If you want to come up, that would be helpful." Chuck took Sarah hand.

Sarah said, "Casey, can you and the Sheriff review what was found. Hopefully, someone will have seen something unusual and report."

"Come on," Sarah said. Then Sarah and Chuck left for Hydroponics.

Chuck and Sarah did not find anything that afternoon. Casey and Jack reviewed all the evidence collected and then given to the FBI related to Cawthers. They drove around town looking for anything unusual, talked to a few people and stopped by Vincent's. No one reported anything out of the ordinary.

Tess asked if everyone wanted to try last night's outing again and they all agreed to meet back at Café Diem. Sarah, Chuck and Casey went back to the B&B. Casey and Sarah had a little work out. Chuck helped Fargo and Julia with their DeLoran.

**Café Diem**

The whole crew went to Café Diem again that night. Chuck had a Brooks Brothers suit on again. He waited for Sarah at the first floor of the B&B. He looked at the ring she gave him and hoped he could figure out the puzzle. He thought it was a good thing the pieces were interlocked. He did and slipped it back on before she came down. When she came down the stairs he began to wish they could just stay at a cozy table by a fire and relax for drinks on the coach. She was spectacular and he wanted to keep her all himself. Sarah had deep blue dress with a dropping neckline. She wore the necklace again with the earrings.

At Café Diem everyone was dressed as nicely as the night before. Tess wore a red off-the-shoulder sweater dress. She also wore the single strand pearl necklace. Jo had dark green plunging v-neck dress. She had strands of fine gold for a necklace and shimmering earrings to match. Julia was there. She had a ruffled sweater dress with white pearls. Her hair was fluffy like Sarah's. Allison wore a purple halter dress. The gentlemen were dress like the previous night. Although Fargo had switched to a reindeer tie.

Chuck and Sarah walked into the party together. They strolled up and down the main street for a couple minutes before getting to the restaurant. Chuck held the door for Sarah as she entered. They went to meet Tess and Jack first.

"Good evening, I am so glad everyone could come again," Tess began.

"Yes, thanks for coming. You were right about Bob Cawthers. We really did catch him red handed," Jack added.

Jo was standing there next to Zane. Jo said, "That was great this morning, getting that guy after what he did to us last night. Thank you for coming."

"Chuck, sometime when this all settles down we'll have to get together for some gaming." Zane gave him a card with web addresses on it.

Sarah greeted Allison, "Oh, how is your baby?"

"She was fine. My son did not understand why I was away so long." Allison continued while looking at Jack, "We got other baby sitters tonight so that Zoe could practice for her play tomorrow. Will you be able to go?"

"Oh yes, please everyone," Jack picked up. "Zoe's play is tomorrow night at seven o'clock in the school auditorium. Please if you can, she would really like to see everyone there." Jack looked around and saw Vincent coming out of the kitchen. He said, "Looks like we are about to be served."

The dinner was great. Everyone enjoyed the meal and the conversation.

**Bed and Breakfast**

Chuck and Sarah retired to the B&B. Julia had shown Chuck how the fireplace worked in the study. Chuck got Sarah a vintage brandy from the bar. She curled into the large couch watching the fire. Chuck got his drink and settled down beside her.

Chuck said, "Sarah, I do want to apologize for this afternoon. Talking with Ellie beforehand probably did not help. I don't understand why Beckman always hangs up before…I am sorry. Please forgive me." He looked at her and found her looking in his eyes.

"Chuck, I have been tense too. But I do want you to be careful. You risked your life to protect me twice." Sarah barely finished.

"I know. But Sarah, that is what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk with you about us. Sarah, I can't…" Chuck was interrupted as Casey came in the room.

Casey had a bottle of scotch, cheese and bread. Putting them down on the tray beside the couch. "I didn't think you would be into Fresno." When he saw that did not seem to register with them. "The New Mexico bowl is being replayed on channel 161. Wyoming and Fresno State. Should be a good game."

_A/N Keeping up with the bowl games is going to be fun. The Elves are still trying to pick their teams. Right now they are looking for the teams with the bright uniforms. Please review. It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing._


	13. Chapter 9 Nine Ladies Dancing

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 9—Nine Ladies Dancing**

**B&B**

Chuck woke up right at six in the morning. He looked to the side and saw Sarah sitting next to his bed. She had her work out outfit on.

"Good morning. Feel okay?" Sarah asked.

"Good morning, yeah sure," Chuck said. "Why?"

"Well after Casey wrestled you to the ground when you laughed at Wyoming for fumbling the football, I wasn't really sure." Sarah looked him over.

"Sarah, I really did want to talk with you last night. But Casey wasn't going to leave us alone. I was mad enough at him for that, let alone going too far over a football game." Chuck was suddenly quiet. "He's still asleep, right?"

"Yes, we are fine. You still trust me?"

"Of course I do. You know I always will." Chuck sat up.

"I promise that we will get together for that discussion you want by Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. No matter what. And we'll get Casey out of the way somehow."

"Okay, that sounds good. But until then can you trust me on something?" Chuck smiled.

"And you know I do."

"I will always protect you." Chuck ducked as she went to swat his face. He got her arm on the back swing and pulled her over. He planted a big kiss on her and held her for a little. "Go on, you know Casey will be coming through the door shortly."

**Café Diem**

Chuck got ready and they met most everyone at Café Diem. He saw Sarah talking with Vincent and could not hear what they were discussing. He and Sarah ordered the same thing for breakfast. When Vincent came over to server breakfast, he brought eight glasses of milk.

Sarah was smiling broadly.

Casey quipped, "See you had to milk that one."

Everyone knew what had happened the day before. Nick had put pictures in his store window with a big thank you to each of the helpers. Chuck got everyone to have a glass of milk.

Breakfast quickly got serious. Chuck and Zane worked out a plan of attack on the computers. They were going to start with the main common files at GD and see if there were any crossing points between Doctor Marostego and Bob Cawthers. Then explore those and if nothing is found start back at the labs. Jack and Casey were going to search around the tunnels. Henry was going to look around town. Jo and Sarah decided to give the school a good scrub, then look at any other public places.

They were just about to leave when he entered. He had fur over fur as a coat and leg wrappings. He pulled back his fur cap and said, "G'Day maties. Someone lookin' for an Australian Shepherd?"

Jack went over and gave him a bear hug. "Just what the doctor ordered."

"Well actually mate, it was what one of your General's that ordered it. It just took a little longer to get old Freddie cleaned up and his nose on straight." Taggart reached down and got Freddie to sit.

"Not another robot? Wasn't Andy enough?" Jack exclaimed.

"Freddie here is kind of special. He is equipped to sniff out RDX down to 300 parts per million. As a matter of fact it looks like he already likes this Bloke. Kind of tall isn't he." Taggart nodded his head toward Casey.

Casey was already trying to get the dog off of him.

"Come Freddie, let the nice man alone." Taggart pulled Freddie away from Casey.

Jack introduced everyone. He and Casey left with Taggart.

Sarah was walking out to the car with Chuck when she asked, "Did you flash on him? He sure sounds familiar."

"Huh? No. No flashes." Chuck helped her in her car. He took the Jeep out to GD.

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck and Zane started on the common files first. They looked at the hiring records. Chuck made a note of the dates the two were hired. Chuck went through the records and then tried to match them against the places they said they were from or went to school. Of course no other records were found. He made a note of that and passed it to Zane.

"You'd think the recruiters would be more careful." Zane acknowledged.

A while later Zane found a correlation in their records. "They were in the construction lab in the same time. Looks like a couple months."

"Okay, that's great some progress." Chuck gave Zane a fist bump.

They continued their search through the common records.

**Tesla School**

Jo and Sarah checked in with the Principle and started looking around the school. They checked the class rooms between classes. Zoe saw them as she was changing classes.

"Hi, guys." Zoe waved at them. They walked over to her.

Jo said, "How's classes?"

"We are almost done. It's almost ridiculous. Our science teacher has us watching 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' the old version. Then our English teacher put on 'Shakespeare in Love.' I mean this is almost a waste. The only thing their doing is grading our tests and doing our final grades." She put her books in the locker. "So how was the party last night?"

"Oh very nice, everyone got to come. Allison found another babysitter for the kids. It was great to see her." Jo said. Sarah nodded in agreement.

"So you and Zane are really back together. No left over cold shoulder?" Zoe started walking with them.

"No, it was rather warm last night." Jo smiled.

"Okay, how about you and Chuck?" Zoe asked.

"What?" said Sarah.

"Well you got to admit he was so obviously concerned for you at the infirmary and then risked his life. And I don't think it was really for all of us, I think it for you." Zoe looked at Sarah. She was seeing whether Sarah would recognize it.

"But you did the same thing Zoe." Sarah saw Zoe shake her head. "You're right. He tried to talk about it last night but we got interrupted."

Both of them turned on Sarah, "What?"

Zoe said, "You know you have to do something. I have to get to my next class. You are both coming to the play tonight?"

They said, "Yes." And Zoe walked down the other hallway.

Sarah and Jo kept looking through the school. They completed their search and found nothing.

**The Tunnels**

Casey was watching the dog. "So Freddie can find any bomb, or just C4?"

"I got his nose set for C4, but I could tune it for anything. You saw him at the bottom of the stairs. There was something there. His nose should have re-tuned for that, so this should be easier to track."

Jack asked, "So we just follow the dog?"

"Right mate. He'll lead us down the same path they were using and get us to where they were working it." Taggart just kept going.

After they had been down there for some time, Jack commented, "I've been following on the map where I think we have been and it sure looks like we going over the same path. Are you sure this dog is working?"

A little while later Taggart stopped, "I think you're right Jack. I am going to hit the home button. He'll guide us back to the stairwell and I'll check his nose there."

The three of the walked what Casey thought was another long walk back to the stairwell. Taggart reached down and pressed two buttons on the sides of the dog's nose. There was a pop and the top of the dog's head lifted up. Casey looked underneath the head and saw a lot of electronics. It was quiet obvious this was not a dog.

Taggart made a couple of adjustments and said, "Well, let's try him one more time."

This time they made it to the room where Casey, Jack and the others were captive. There were a couple boards in the room. Freddie alerted for those. There was a little paste on both. Jack took a sample of the paste for analysis.

Taggart set the dog to sniff something out again.

They made several turns this time and came back to the stairwell. "Okay this is not working. Taggart we are going to head back and start searching the rest of the town. You have to fix your dog there or we will call in some real ones." Jack started up the stairwell with Casey right behind.

**Global Dynamics **

Tess was on the phone with General Mansfield. "Yes General, we will have the flight test this afternoon. They will go right by the reviewing stand twice. The first time they'll be normal. The second time they will have the cloaking turned on. Then they engage the targets. The people in the stands should be able to see them after that. They will turn off the cloak when the targets are destroyed. It would be no problem. They can make a final pass without the cloak. Yes. We will meet you tomorrow morning. We have like a tour bus to pick everyone up. Thank you, sir."

Tess looked over at Fargo, "You got all that. Tell Doctor Scott to adjust the flight plans, and that we want it demo'ed this afternoon."

"Got it. We'll have everything set. The bus meets us at the runway at ten o'clock. Vincent will have lunch up here by eleven. The briefing starts at eleven thirty and by noon they will be in the stands for the demonstrations."

Fargo left to get things set. Tess saw Zane and Chuck heading for the elevators. She decided to follow them and see what they had found.

Tess met them in the weapons lab. "How are you doing? Find anything yet?"

"We did find that Doctor Marostego and Cawthers worked in the construction lab together. They were working on some new paints for plastic sliding. But there seemed to be no connections with anything else yet. We are down here to basically start over again and see if we missed any." Zane explained.

"Or if there was something that we have learned since being here that would be useful." Chuck added. "I think this is going to take a while."

"Zane, I do need you to check the demo this afternoon. We have quite a crowd tomorrow and I need you to review what Doctor Scott has." Tess said, patted Zane on the shoulder.

"Yeah, it will be a good change from this. No offense." He looked at Chuck.

"None taken." Chuck went back to the terminal.

**Sheriff's Office**

Jo and Sarah left the school and went over to the Sheriff's office. They left their cars out front. Sarah asked, "Did you get in anything more on Cawthers?"

"Well we did get a regular rap sheet on him. The odd thing was that his fingerprints did not match what we had at GD. With the right set of prints we were able to get this," Jo handed Sarah the fax.

The list was long. It showed Cawthers in and out of jail for theft and fraud on numerous occasions. They were all small time but a couple had overseas connections.

Sarah called Chuck but got no answer. She left a voice mail with the highlights from the rap sheet.

"He must have his phone off. What do you want to do now?" Sarah asked.

"Let's grab a sandwich over at the café, then we'll stop over at Don Marco's shop," Jo said.

They walked over to Café Diem. Vincent came over. "How nice of you to join us. Do you know what you would like?"

Jo went first, "I'd like a BLT with your smoked bacon. And I'll like a glass of milk and a water."

Sarah said, "I'll do the same."

Sarah's phone rang, "Hi. Yes, I left all the information on the voicemail. Okay, that sounds good. Give me a call when you get done. Remember we are going to the play tonight. That's fine. Bye."

Sarah looked at Jo with a slightly worried face. "We did not bring that much with us for clothes and then we got our backup clothes sent. Anyway, the other day I passed a shop with holiday dresses in the window. Is that a good place to look for a dress?"

"Oh sure, Riccie's is a very nice shop. It's on the way over to Don Marco's. We could stop there first," Jo replied. "So, is this for the play or a little something more?"

Sarah smiled, "Well, as you and Zoe so nicely pointed out it this morning, Chuck and I need to talk."

Jo just looked at her for a moment, "Right."

Sarah was a bit taken back, "What?"

"Well, I guess we could be opposites. But I find it a little difficult to believe," Jo said.

"And what do you mean by that?" asked Sarah.

"I tend to attack my subject head on. Then I'll discuss any problem when I have his attention. I thought you would be a little more like me," Jo raised her eye brow.

Sarah thought about the experiences with Bryce. He always used her physical side to get what he wanted. They never could talk about anything. Sarah tried to explain her way out of the problem, "But with Chuck it has been so complicated."

"Funny, Zane and I pretty much agree about you. He thinks and I agree that it is pretty straight forward. There's nothing complicated about the love that Chuck has shown for you. I mean sure he saved all of us twice, but you can tell in his eyes when he looks at you that it was meant for you. What's complicated about that?" Jo asked.

Vincent interrupted with their lunches. The BLT's came with chips and pickles. Vincent said, "Sorry I didn't ask, but the chips are made the old way. Is that alright or would you rather."

Sarah held up her hand, "No that's fine. Thank you, I'm sure this will taste as exquisite as very meal we have had here."

Vincent looked at Jo, "Is there any way we can keep her?"

They both smiled at Vincent. He asked if they needed anything else and left for the next table.

Sarah took a bite of the sandwich, "Wow, this is good. Smoked bacon, huh?"

"Yes, it does add something." Jo took a bite.

When they finished, Jo said, "Let's head over to that shop. We'll see if there isn't something there to uncomplicated things."

Sarah shook her head and followed.

**Global Dynamics**

Later that afternoon, Zane asked Chuck to follow him out and watch the demo. Chuck sat on the reviewing stand and watched the action. The fighters flew by the first time, and then the second time you could hear them but they were not visible. He saw a set of targets destroyed and then the fighters flew by again.

Zane stayed behind to work on adjustments to the demo. Chuck went down to 5AC2 to work on the surveillance machine. He wanted to check the days around when Don Mark O and Cawthers came to Eureka

He tried Cawthers first. There were no signs of him at the B&B around those dates. With Don Mark O, he found that Don stayed at the B&B. He watched several scenes where Don was by himself. A couple had him on the phone, but nothing was recognizable. In one he thought for sure that he was talking with Vincent, not the one from Café Diem, the Fulcrum assassin that was after him and his dad. He also caught a partial phone number on another call and made note of the numbers he had. Finally, he saw Beverley with Don. They were having drinks. Then Don was just staring. Beverley was asking questions. Don revealed himself as a Fulcrum agent. That seemed to satisfy Beverley because she broke it off. Then the next morning Don checked out of the B&B.

Chuck called Sarah at six. She and Jo were still walking around town checking everything they could. Chuck said, "Hey, I lost track of time and just now finishing my notes. I am sorry, I did not call sooner."

"No problem, we were not watching either." There was a small laugh at the other end.

"I can meet you back at the B&B. We could go see Zoe's play and get a late snack." Chuck was closing down his terminal.

"Sounds good, I'll meet you back there," Sarah hung up.

**B&B**

When Chuck and Sarah got back to the B&B they called Ellie. She was a lot happier. Her patient pulled out and everything was better. She wished them well. And said to have fun at the play.

Chuck and Sarah went up to change clothes. Chuck came down in a sport coat with white shirt and black pants. When Sarah came down the stairs Chuck was sure he did not want to go to a high school play. She was more than spectacular. Sarah was wearing a green cotton rib sweater dress that fit nicely against her curves. She had on a set of ruby earrings and matching necklace. Chuck thought she took the holiday look to the next level.

Sarah saw him standing there looking at her. "Come on Chuck, we have to go."

**Tesla School**

Chuck was escorting Sarah into the play. They checked their coats at the front. When Chuck saw Zane and Jo, he realized something was going on. Jo had a red dress that looked very similar to Sarah's dress. As they passed Zane, Zane and Chuck smiled at each other.

Jack and Tess were holding two rows a little more than midway down for Lucas's family, and the people they invited last night. Sarah really thought it was nice of them. Chuck sat beside Sarah and on the other side were Jo and Zane.

The play was 'The Nutcracker.' But there were some minor changes, the music was updated from Tchaikovsky, the nutcracker was Lucas' toy for the contest, and everyone dressed in white, green or red.

Sarah spotted it first, Nine Ladies Dancing. She nudged Chuck and held up nine fingers then pointed at the stage. He smiled at her and nodded.

Zoe was outstanding and the toy nutcracker held up for its part in the play. There was a standing ovation and everyone waited around for their kids.

Sarah told Chuck, "I am glad we came. The kids did a real nice job."

**Café Diem**

It was almost the same ensemble as before. The additions were Zoe and Lucas. Allison had to go back to her children but Taggart brightened the place with his down under Chrissie cheer.

Chuck, Sarah, Jo and Zane sat at the same table. They had not eaten diner and were ordering something light but a little more than dessert.

Zane and Chuck explained that there was a demo scheduled for the next and several generals would be there. Chuck said it was cool and that Sarah might like it, but Casey just had to be there.

Chuck asked, "So what do you want for the Nine Ladies?"

"I think the same as you. Time so we can talk about us." She put her hand on Chuck's.

Jo heard part of that. She said to Sarah, "If you cannot find a place or time, let me know. I'll fix it."

Casey was sitting with Doc Ski, Tess, Jack and Taggart. Jack and Taggart were reliving old times and explaining to Casey, Ski and Tess as they went. They said it started on the first day when Taggart captured Jack and then Jack got out of the cell. They finished explaining the problems with the ice core that was brought over from Russia.

Casey explained that he'd been in the Gulf War and had met some of the Australian diving teams and others while in Kuwait. They laughed at his stories of the teams' escapades to leave Kuwait proper just to get a pint of Foster's.

When Chuck and Sarah got back to the B&B, Casey was already watching another bowl game with S. Mississippi and Middle Tennessee. Chuck and Sarah both stomped up the stairs to their rooms.

_A/N __ The Elves are still working their bowl picks. Right now they are trying to figure out what the impact will be on next years' fantasy football lineups. _

_Please review. It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing._


	14. Chapter 10 Ten Lords Leaping

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 10—**** Ten Lords Leaping**

**B&B**

Chuck woke up again at six in the morning. He looked to the side and saw Sarah sitting next to his bed. She had her work out outfit on.

"Good morning," Sarah said.

"Good morning," Chuck replied.

"I am going to head down and get a work out. But first, I want you to know that I was so mad at Casey. We need to have our little talk." She planted a kiss on him and he started to believe this may not end. When they heard some noise from across the hall, Sarah pulled back and looked him over. She asked, "Do you really think we should go to that demonstration?"

"Sarah, I really wonder about so many generals coming out here when we have a bomb threat. I am kind of surprised that Casey has not called it off. I'll keep checking the computers." Chuck thought about it for second and said, "I think you and Casey should go. You and Casey are better about seeing a problem at something like that than I am."

"We will be fine," Sarah assured him.

"I know, but I still think something is wrong," Chuck worried holding his head in his hands.

"Chuck, this is fine. We know what to do."

"Okay, just be careful," Chuck smiled.

"We will. See you in a minute." She stood up to go exercise.

Chuck stood up and planted a big kiss on her like the day before. He said, "See you in a minute."

**Café Diem**

Chuck and Sarah met most everyone at Café Diem. Chuck and Zane discussed what else there could be on the weapons computers. Jack, Taggart, Freddie, and Casey were going to search around the tunnels. Casey agreed to get back up to GD before noon. Henry and Zane were going to help with the demo. Jo and Sarah decided to go up to the demo site and look around. Fargo reminded everyone that tomorrow night was the toy contest and holiday lights contest. It was getting close to a huddle and break for the play, but everyone headed to their positions.

Chuck saw Sarah off in Jo's patrol car. Casey went with Jack. Chuck decided to stop a Nick's. Entering the store he saw Nick's smiling face.

"Did you get her to agree yet?" Nick asked.

Chuck almost stumbled, "What, no. I can hardly get a chance to talk with her."

"Oh, don't worry it will work out." Nick looked around at his store, "So, are you looking for something?"

"I don't know if you have one. When I first met Sarah I was helping a guy re-tape his daughter's performance as a ballerina. Then last night she was so happy watching the Nutcracker. I was wondering if you had something…," Chuck asked.

Chuck left the store feeling great. He knew he found the perfect gift.

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck and Sarah said that they would meet Jo back at the exercise area. Chuck took Sarah back down to 5AC2. He said, "I did another check yesterday. I found the dates that Don Mark O and Bob Cawthers got to GD. So I looked at the surveillance at the B&B around those times. Apparently Cawthers did not go there at that time. But Don Mark O stayed at the B&B for a few days. I got him talking to Vincent, the Fulcrum agent who tried to kill us and to another number. I passed that on. Also, Beverley, the Ring Agent, did something to him. Have you ever heard of something between a truth serum and hypnosis? Well, that's the best I can described it. He told her that he was a Fulcrum agent. She let him go. I don't know if there was any other interaction."

"I wonder why a Ring Agent let a Fulcrum Agent go on her territory," Sarah said.

"I don't know. But I also thought it a bit strange that he knew Vincent and we did not pick up on that earlier. I passed all of that along to Beckman's analysts," Chuck noted.

"That's good. Let's go ahead and head over to the demo," Sarah motioned to the door.

"Okay, then I am going to go to the weapons lab." Chuck said and walked with Sarah out the door.

When they got to the demo area, Chuck left Sarah with Jo. He said, "Don't forget, you guys see anything wrong get out of there."

Chuck returned to the weapons lab.

Tess was checking on the last minute touches for the visiting generals. Fargo was up there with her. So far everything was working fine. The generals' bus was on its way to the airport. It was followed by two regular buses for the staff that accompanied the generals. Vincent was finishing the salads and starting the main course.

**Tunnels **

Jack, Casey and Taggart were at the bottom of the stairwell again with Freddie. Taggart said, "Well, we'll calibrate him and get him on his way. I fixed the GPS in him and the feedback loop. So, he should follow one scent and get to where it goes. Then he will stop and let us know. After that he will retrace his steps until he gets a new trail and follow it. He'll repeat that until we stop him."

"Let's try it and see what we get," said Jack.

Casey grunted.

They followed the dog along a path that was new. He stopped, sat and barked. They looked around and saw nothing worth investigating.

Taggart said, "Okay Freddie, start again."

The dog went back about one hundred yards and started a new path. This sequence stopped and started three more times. Each time they ended in a hall or room with nothing in it. Casey was marking down the paths they were taking on the map. Each of the paths was new and different. They did not go to the room with the boards.

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck was working hard revisiting the files they had reviewed and checking them once more and then putting them aside. He went to new files that were the co-workers and found a common file system. He started going through that.

Sarah and Jo had visually checked the demo area. They were now doing electronic sweeps to see if there were any signals in the area that did not correspond to the list from Doctor Scott and Zane.

Doctor Scott and Zane were going through the exercise script again. Henry was out at the target range ensuring all of the targets had recorders and that they were working.

**Eureka Air Field**

Tess and Fargo were already at the airport waiting for the generals. The generals' plane was a C-17. It came in with a short field landing. The generals started filling out. General Mansfield got out of the plane third. There were two more four star generals and then five more three star generals. It was a mix of operational commanders and acquisition commanders. A large staff of Colonels down to Captains followed.

**Global Dynamics**

The generals arrived at GD and went to the auditorium. Doctor Scott began his presentation.

Chuck was still going through the files. He was checking the common files and had seen a reference early in the files that Doctor Marostego had worked a covering for the new C4 development. It was described as paint. Then there were entries that the Doctor was working on mixtures of C4 and concentrations. Those started to match the work that would have gone into the stripping of the C4 in the boxes.

Jo and Sarah had finished the electronic sweep. There were no other signals. They were going to make one last check of the stands.

++++  
**Tunnels**

Jack, Casey and Taggart were still following the dog. They had gone down another three dead ends and Casey had to leave. Taggart gave the command home and Freddie led them back to the stairwell. Casey left for GD.

Jack and Taggart started again. Freddie led them down three more dead ends. Taggart was now keeping the map. He showed Jack that each time they had come a new way.

On the next run, they came into a big room. On one side there were a stack of planks. Freddie went over and alerted on those. Then on the other side there were several boxes of glass rods. Freddie did nothing with those boxes. He did circle around an area in the middle of the room. Taggart concluded that that must have been their work area. He then took a knife and cut a chip from the planks. It turned out the planks were plastic, not wood. They were light weight and about 20 feet long. Taggart decided to try something, he lit the shaving. It caught quickly and flash burned.

Taggart said, "That's a kind of a bomb."

"What? What could that do?"

"Well, if the planks were tied in to some kind of fuse," Taggart picked something up from the floor and then broke it apart, "Like this bolt. The bolt is a fuse. The plank could explode with this bolt as a fuse."

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck had gotten a call from Zane. Martha was on her way back to the lab where he was. She had completed the sweep of the demo area and there were no other aircraft in the vicinity.

The generals were now in place. The demo was beginning. Sarah and Jo had taken positions beside the stands being used by the generals. Casey was watching the staff.

Jack called Chuck, "Hey this is Jack. We have been trying to get through. None of the other lines work. You should check that. We found some planks down here that are covered, like painted in C4."

"Oh god, what size are they?"

"They are an off green color about twenty feet long, by foot wide, and about two inches thick. There was a bolt down here that Taggart said could be an electronic fuse."

"Let me get back." Chuck hung up and started dialing. Nothing was getting through. He realized they were getting jammed.

At the same time an email came into his laptop. He thought that odd, but realized the system used a different transmission medium. He was even more surprised by the email. It was from Beckman's analysts. The partial phone number matched one used by a Fulcrum Agent Sundown, a known assassin. Chuck flashed on him and was able to see several pictures of him.

Martha came in the room. In an instant Chuck knew he had only one choice, "Martha get ready for a wild ride." He got his laptop and reconnect to Martha's network. It was voice and data. "Okay, Martha here goes. We are going to get everyone off the top bass stands and then stop a bad man from activating an explosive." Martha's lights blinked, but then it could have been when Chuck's laptop signal connected with Martha.

Martha's heads-up display came up on Chuck's computer scene. Chuck pushed Martha to her top speed. He had figured that she remembered the way in and cut loose with few guidance commands. She was out and in the demo area within a minute. Chuck scanned the situation. The fighters had made their first pass and were coming around for their second.

Chuck thought of something, he hit the redial and put the speaker on. "Jack, get out of there now. Get out now." He dropped the phone and went back to the display.

The fighters had turned on their cloaking. "That's it. Martha, when the jets go past and start their targeting run, the bleachers are going to be blown apart. You have to get so close to make them jump from the stands."

The first run Chuck flew Martha close to the stands. Had everyone not bent down they would have lost a couple heads. Martha flipped around.

Sarah, Jo, Casey and most of security began firing at Martha. Chuck was typing and talking at the same time, "Martha, go cloaked, we are going in firing all non lethal shots at the stands, confirm."

He would swear later that he heard her say, "Non-lethal shots confirmed."

Chuck continued to type and command, "Making the run, open fire." He was watching for one thing, Sundown. Chuck saw the movement; Sundown was reaching into his coat. "Target the device in his hands. Target the device in his hands. Execute, execute. Complete at all costs."

Martha swiveled and attacked Sundown. She put several blasts into the coat and hands of Sundown. The agent fell to the ground.

The next thing Chuck saw was all of the GD displays light up with, "This bomb is for you. It will lighten your load. The next time it lights. You'll know I won. DMO"

The phones came back on line and they all started ringing.

Chuck got through to Sarah, "You okay?"

"Yes, did you do this?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, listen. I am going to put Martha down in front of you. You have to cover her. She protected all of you. Get Casey on this line."

Chuck made his final commands, "Martha go sit in front of Sarah. She'll protect you."

Martha landed in front of Sarah and de-cloaked.

"Casey, what do you have Bartowski?" Casey was really upset. Ten generals had just dived for cover and a Colonel was down with a serious burn hole.

"Casey, this was an action confirmed from Beckman's analysts and a flash. The man down with the burnt hands is Sundown a known Fulcrum assassin. He will have what is left of a jammer and signal device that was going to blow the stands the generals were sitting on. You need to restrain him." Chuck was exhausted.

"Got him." Casey reported. He called Jo and the GD security over. They took Sundown away.

Chuck picked up the phone hoping Jack would still be on the line. "Jack, Jack you still there?"

"Yeah, Chuck. There was an explosion down here and Don Marco's house is gone. It blew up. What happened there? " Jack asked.

"Everyone is okay here at GD, except one of the agents that created this problem. There was an attempt to blow up the generals. They were sitting on bleachers that were rigged as a bomb. They were made out of the planks you described.

"By the way, did Don Marco's house have siding like those planks you described?" Chuck asked.

"Yup, they were. Interesting way to get rid of the evidence," Jack surmised.

"The bad part is that if there were any other houses with that siding, they are likely rubble too," Chuck said sadly.

"We'll get right on that." Jack was about to hang up.

Just then several guards entered the lab, "Mr. Bartowski, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of several Generals. Come with us."

"Hey, Jack. I am going to need your help up at GD," Chuck called into the phone as he was led away.

General Mansfield and the others were in the auditorium. Mansfield was talking with Tess, Sarah and Casey. "Mr. Bartowski is going to be held until we clear this up or as General Beckman advises we put him in a bunker. There will be no questions."

Tess motioned for Sarah and Casey to follow her. They went up to her office. Henry, Zane and Jack were there.

Tess began, "From what I understand Chuck is innocent. Jack was listening on the phone when Chuck was commanding Martha. All of his actions were designed to save those generals and everyone else at the demo. We need to put together a play-by-play rerun for these people to review. Use everyone we have. It needs to be Pro-replay quality. We more than owe this to Chuck."

Zane hacked into Chuck's computer through Martha's network. Sarah knew his safeguard password was her name. She guessed right that he activated it when he left his computer. The guards did not disconnect it. They just closed off the lab.

Zane, Henry, Tess and Casey were able to put together a video of the flight, commands, and commentary from the time Martha was connected to when it 'sat' in front of Sarah.

Fargo and Julia helped Jo and Sarah put together the other pieces. They had a picture of the first letter received, the reports to General Beckman on the condition of the C4 boxes in the weapons lab, the records from Chucks notes on the progress of Doctor Marostego through the labs. Then they also had the pictures of the planks in the tunnel, the fuse and the shavings burning.

Zane was able to hack GD security and pull a close up of the device in Sundown's hands. When Henry analyzed it, he found that its frequency would match the pop up antenna that was found in Doctor Marostego's back yard.

Tess orchestrated the production of the evidence. Jack presented the physical evidence collected; Henry, the evidence from the computer files and their connections; Sarah, the evidence related to Fulcrum; and Casey, the narrative that went with Martha's flight. Because they were going to talk about Fulcrum with these generals, Casey printed out the disclosure agreements for the generals and others to sign.

Tess introduced the report. She told the crowd including General Mansfield, the generals and staff present at the demonstration, and General Beckman, "The information you are about to receive had been taken as evidence in defense of Mr. Charles Bartowski. The GD lawyers reviewed it and submit it with their signatures. The association of Mr. Bartowski with the events here are classified. Other pieces of evidence presented here are also classified and require a disclosure statement over and above that of the normal GD clearances. Any questions before we begin?" Tess waved her hand at Zane.

The auditorium front screen came alive with the evidence. The evidence leading to the conclusion the bleacher boards were explosive was irrefutable. Martha's flight would have made any amusement park a ride of a lifetime. Martha's video was combined with the heads-up display, Chuck's commands, and Casey's flight narrative. The final explanation from Henry led to the conclusive finding that the device held by Sundown would have cause the fuse to detonate the bleachers. The pattern of destruction displayed at the Doctor's house led to the associated conclusion that the generals and anyone within five feet of the stands would have been killed and within twenty feet could have had serious injuries. Finally, the presentation concluded with Chuck saying, "we are going in firing all non lethal shots at the stands, confirm." Followed by the computer code from Martha, transcribed below, which said, "Non-lethal shots confirmed."

Tess, Jack, and Henry went up to the stage. Tess asked, "Is there any doubt that Mr. Bartowski acted in a truly professional manner to save lives? General Mansfield, will you release him now and drop all charges?"

General Mansfield looked at those gathered with him. They all nodded their heads. "Yes. Colonel Parks will you and Agent Walker go get Mr. Bartowski?" While they were leaving the room, there were a couple questions. Most of them centered on getting a copy of the flight video. Zane had already warned Tess and Sarah that no one could have that tape. Then privately, he told Sarah that only Chuck would have been able to accomplish what happened. Analysis of the tape would reveal just how good he was. Zane told Sarah that's just not a good idea.

Sarah walked up to Chuck and wrapped her arms around him, "It's okay. Everyone at GD brought together the evidence to prove that you only did the right thing to save lives. You saved us all again. Oh, I did see the Ten Lords a Leaping." She smiled and kissed him.

Chuck smiled. "Oh, that would have been worth seeing live. But what would you like?"

"Well, other than the discussion we keep promising each other, I would like to have a nice diner and see the Christmas lights again. But first we have to go see these generals. Remember, be nice. Some of them do not know you." Sarah kept smiling.

"But they…"

"No buts, Chuck. Treat them as you would the lady at Buy More who keeps coming back saying that it is broken," Sarah concluded. Chuck smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

When they entered the auditorium, Chuck was surprised by the reception. Most of the generals were sanding and clapping their hands.

Chuck did see General Beckman say, "Very good Chuck." Then her screen went blank.

General Mansfield and many of the others came over and shook his hand. Chuck took it with the charm and grace that Sarah had asked for.

Casey was the last, "Chuck, you did good."

Tess and Fargo rounded up the generals and staffs. They were taken back out to the airfield and departed in the C-17. General Mansfield stayed behind.

When Tess got back, everyone collected in the conference room. General Mansfield stressed that they only had a little over a day, then they would have to evacuate Eureka and GD. They again broke up in similar teams to what they had done before. Zane and Chuck were to work on the computers. Jack and Taggart along with Freddie were to continue in the tunnels. Casey and Henry were going back to check the bleachers and the houses that blew up. Sarah and Tess were going to coordinate activities. Fargo, Jo and Julian were going to work the evacuation plan.

It was close to midnight when Jack and Taggart concluded they had traced every path in the tunnels. The only room with significant use was the one with the planks and the boxes of glass rods. The planks did not detonate as they did not have the fuse bolts in them yet. Casey and Henry had finished the evaluation of the bleachers and Doctor Marostego's home. Henry reported that the planks from the bleachers would have blown up in a similar fashion. Henry displayed the blast pattern from the home. Chuck and Zane had gotten cots. They reported no new finds. But they were going to continue in shifts.

_A/N Elves have been working hard. They are helping Santa get the last minute details done on Christmas gifts. Still working the football picks...Wyoming won in double overtime. Please review. It's the candy that keeps the Christmas Elves writing._


	15. Chapter 11 Eleven Pipers Piping

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 11—**** Eleven Pipers Piping**

**Global Dynamics**

Chuck woke up at eight in the morning. Zane was finishing the bio lab.

Zane said, "I got nothing new. You might as well start on the Hydroponics lab."

"Got it," Chuck said and moved over to his laptop.

"Wake me up at noon."

There was another meeting at nine. Everyone collected in the conference room. Sarah was waiting by the door and got Chuck when he started in. She asked, "You doing okay?"

Chuck replied, "Oh sure, you guys?"

"Fine, just wish we could find this. Everything has been building to getting closer to it, but we need a breakthrough," Sarah said. She held his hand and got a seat.

Fargo asked, "Everyone please take your seats."

General Mansfield said, "I know you are working hard on this but we have to find it fast. Based on the planning we have, evacuation will start at Noon."

Chuck reported, "We are worked through the weapons and bio labs. Nothing new was found. I am starting the Hydroponics lab." Zane and Chuck stayed assigned to the computers.

Jack said, "We are finished in the tunnels. The only reason we can figure they went down so many paths was that they did not have a map and got lost. Taggart and I along with Freddie are going to team with Casey and Henry. They were going to check the other two houses that blew up."

Jo showed the map on the screen for the evacuation. "I will be going out to work the evacuation. Julia and Fargo are going to coordinate with the county hospital and local towns for temporary housing. School is now out for the holiday break. Some of the high school kids like Zoe and Lucas have been recruited too."

Tess ended the status report by saying, "Sarah and I are going to continue to coordinate activities. Anyone have any questions? Okay, thanks."

Chuck went out with Sarah and stopped in the hall, "Don't worry we'll find it. We have to. I have to show you the lights and get a nice dinner."

Sarah gave him a kiss, "Yes, and then I want that talk."

Chuck squeezed her hand and went back to the lab.

Chuck continued working the Hydro lab. He was finding more information about Don Mark O's activities there. At first there was a strong emphasis on the water distribution system. The information showed that he had done some rerouting of the water system. Don Mark O had been involved in the reconstruction of eleven of the pipes going below the roads.

Don Mark O's more recent activities indicated a switch into lighting. Chuck thought initially that it was strange in a water lab to work lighting. But when he remembered Sarah in that artificial lighting, he understood that to get all those plants growing lighting was needed.

Tess took a call in the conference room from the facilities people. They said there was a drop in water pressure. That was followed by a call from Jo that there was water coming out of the ground near one of the roads exiting the town.

Tess followed up, "This is Tess. Henry, can you get over and check that?"

"Will do," said Henry.

Jack, Taggart, Casey and Henry were checking the houses. They had completed their first analysis when the reports of water pipes breaking came in. They left Casey at the second house to start the mapping of the detonation.

Jack called back, "Taggart showed us the quickest to get to the pipes. There's eleven pipes that are busted. We can hardly hear you, the pipes are too loud."

Sarah was surprised when Jack reported that eleven pipes were broken. The water coming out made a sound like a tune. When she heard the background noise, she wrote down Eleven Pipes Piping. She thought this was going to be the best they would do today.

Jack was looking to find out why the pipes burst. Jack said to Henry, "You know as well as I that a tree does not fall around here without a reason. Eleven pipes are a little too high in my count. What do you think did this?"

With the first indication of other problems occurring Tess agreed to establish and keep a network up between the groups working the problem.

When the report of the pipes was made to all the members of the team, Chuck said, "Henry, you need to check those pipes for an indication of a C4 burn. The Doctor had knowledge of those pipes and could have tampered with them."

"Okay Chuck, will do," yelled Henry back.

Chuck woke Zane. He came over to work the system with Chuck.

Jo began running the operations in the town. Fargo, Julian, Taggart, Zoe and Lucas were out directing traffic and sending people to parking lots.

Casey came on-line, "I am sending in the report on the damage at the second house. It does seem to match the first house we looked at this morning. They do not match the doctor's house. The patterns affected the seams of the houses more than the panel siding. Henry and Zane can do more detailed analysis than I can out here."

Henry said just a little while latter, "I can confirm that the pipes were blown with C4. Jack and I are closing the pipes that were blown."

Tess said, "Repair crews are on their way."

Henry waited for the crews. When they reviewed what was needed, Henry called in, "The crews figured they will be able to repair two pipes in three hours. So, we are looking at sixteen hours before they are all operating"

"This is Jack. I am going to help with the evacuation and Henry is headed back to GD," Jack started back to town.

Chuck and Zane found it at the same time. "Hey, look at this," they said in unison over the net.

Tess and Sarah both said, "What?"

"We found what Doctor Don used for those new lights. Let us check this a minute and we'll let you know," said Chuck.

They had the formula for the new lights that replaced the mercury ones. It contained RDX. Chuck thought that strange. He started pulling up everything and then his screen was filled with formulas and equations.

Zane looked at what was happening. He put their lines to the net on mute and called Sarah on another line, "You should get down here. You need to see what Chuck is doing. But whatever you do, don't bring anyone with you right now."

Chuck heard that. Zane hung up on that line. Chuck said, "Hey, this isn't anything special. I am just cross checking the things I found so far."

"Right buddy, I'll look for more too," Zane said.

When Sarah got down there, Zane pointed to Chuck's screen. Sarah watched with her mouth open.

Chuck turned around. "Oh come on, I am just about done and I'll show you this was not the big trick you think. Henry or Zane could do this. They just haven't seen all of the parts yet."

Chuck was explaining this as he was typing his report. "Okay, the simple answer is that the bomb, actually, bombs are the new light bulbs. From here it is a little complicated but not that bad. Doctor Marostego knew the water system and their interactions. He also developed the new lights. They have the C4 compound cyclotrimethylene trinitramine or RDX in them instead of mercury. All of the light bulbs in GD have been replaced with these new ones. As you may remember, the good Doctor was also selling new Christmas decoration lights and light sets. This part is a guess, but most of the houses we looked at seemed to have those new lights as a full replacement or a major part of their light show.

"Now comes some of the math for Henry to back check. The blast from the Doctor's house does not match the other houses as Casey reported. These calculations show the differences at the seams of the houses. I do know that the house on 5th Avenue was decorated. It was one of the streets we went down. The decorations in this case were along the edges of the house. The lights caused a secondary explosion in those houses."

Chuck looked up at Zane's expression and then Sarah. He continued, "So then, you may wonder how the secondary explosion could be the cause of the destruction of GD and the town, specially, since there is no fuse with each light.

"The detonation was a fairly elaborate plan. A couple of things were worked into the plan. The first part was the pipes. When the pipes were knocked out, the electrical demand went up. The roads and several other things are at least partially heated by the water. With the water out, electrical heating takes over. The power drain will tax the generators for GD and the town. Now, remember that it is Christmas and the contests are tonight. The toys get judged at five o'clock and the awards are presented at five thirty. Then the Christmas lights are turned on at sundown. I believe the intent is to flip all the switches at once. It will create a very sizeable demand and then a spike in the power grid. The spike will cause the detonation of all those new lights. The lights on the houses will literally explode and break the houses at their seams. The lights at GD will cause significant damage. Although without knowing the exact placement of all the lights, I am not sure of the amount of damage.

"We need to cancel the lighting contest and replace the lights." Chuck ended the report.

"That's it? The lights?" Sarah went over to him. "You are amazing." And then she gave him the note, Eleven Pipes a Piping.

Chuck reached around grabbed her and kissed her long and hard. "You win."

"Later, we need everyone to review this." Sarah said.

"Everyone has it," Chuck said as he sent the email. He got up and stretched. "Let's go see how to get all this fixed."

Sarah, Chuck and Zane got up to the conference room. General Mansfield, Tess and Henry had displayed the email on the split screen with General Beckman on the other half. They were reading the email from Chuck.

General Mansfield looked over at the three entering the conference room. He said, "Can you explain this?"

Sarah looked at Chuck and nodded at him. Chuck began, "The new lights around GD and the town are the bombs. They'll explode when they get a power spike in the power lines. Doctor Marostego made the new lights with C4 in them as a replacement to those with mercury. He exploded the pipes to help set up the power spike. It would happen when everyone lights their trees tonight for the decoration contest."

Chuck looked over at Zane. Chuck continued, "Zane can confirm this." Zane nodded. "And Henry should check it to make sure we are correct. I sent him a separate email with the math behind it."

Then he made an off-handed comment loud enough for General Beckman to hear, "Finally, got to use those math classes from Stanford." He was looking at Sarah when he said it, but he could see Beckman nod her head slightly.

General Mansfield said, "This seems like an easy fix. Tell everyone to put the evacuation on hold."

Henry reviewed the math. He said, "What Chuck has is correct. The power spike caused by the demand tonight would cause explosions. Somehow we should have caught that in the testing of the lights."

General Mansfield said, "Chuck, congratulations on solving this puzzle. And General Beckman, thank you for sending your team. Global Dynamics and the advancements it represents have been saved. Tess, Henry and Jack, thank you for the support. Have a happy holiday."

Tess told Fargo to get back to GD. She turned the clean-up over to Fargo. He would be in charge of replacing the lights there.

Jack and Jo told everyone in Eureka they could go home but they had to unplug their lighting. Failure to do so could lead to accidental explosions and would lead to citations.

Zane got Sarah to the side, "I want you to know that Chuck was right. Henry or I could have come to the same conclusions as Chuck. But not in a half hour, where half of that time was spent on the report. It would likely have taken a week before we were convinced of our results. Chuck wasn't guessing. He knew he was right."

Sarah nodded and said, "Thank you. I know you are right. And Chuck and I will trust you to keep this to yourself. I am convinced that we need friends like you and Jo."

General Mansfield thanked everyone one last time and left. Tess and Sarah saw him out.

Chuck was still explaining to Henry how he knew this was the right answer. Henry agreed it was correct but was still asking questions about it. When Casey came up to listen in, Zane waved Henry off. He nodded to Zane and left Chuck to explain to Casey.

When Tess and Sarah got back, they sat down in the conference room to compare notes and see if there was anything they left out.

Tess was looking at her notes and said, "He is still amazing."

"Who?" asked Sarah.

"Huh, I was talking about Jack. Henry said he was not able to get those pipes closed. Jack figured a way to do. He's like that. Sometime I don't know what to think about him. He never really knows the science behind anything we are doing but always comes up with the right way to approach it or get it done." She looked at Sarah in thought.

Tess said, "I guess he's a lot like you're Chuck. Jack has risked his life repeatedly." She doodled a little on her pad. "It's funny. I mean the way we got together involved some really terrifying events, but it was the little things we did together. I really know him now." She doodled a little more.

Sarah asked, "So what's wrong?"

"By now you know I have to take another job shortly and will leave here. I don't want to act like a fussy little teenager. I will miss him, but I don't know whether he'll come see me. I'm sorry this is foolishness," Tess started gathering her things.

"No, its not. I would think he would come for a visit. He won't give up his job here. I think this was made for him and he was made for it," Sarah's face lit up a bit. "Actually, that had been Chuck's problem. He's the only one that can do what he does. He does it well. More often than he should, he has been the hero."

Tess said, "But that's good isn't it? That's the same thing. He is made for the job and does it well." Tess looked at Sarah. "Wait, what is wrong?"

"Oh, I really can't tell you that anything is wrong, it's just complicated," Sarah said.

"Complicated is what we do here," Tess smiled. "If you can't resolve the problem, then let me know and we'll pound some sense into you both. Why don't you stay?"

"I think we will stay tonight. We do need to make sure the Doctor did not have something else in mind." Sarah thought about it for a second, "And if I can't work this out, Chuck and I will come see you tomorrow."

Sarah, Casey and Chuck met down at 5AC2. Sarah said, "I think we should stay the night to see if there was anything else. There have been too many twists to this. The Doctor could have done something else."

Chuck said, "There are only two events left in town tonight. The toy contest is at five tonight and then Zane said that he was going with Jo to the Christmas candle light service at the town church. I think he said that was at seven thirty, but we can check."

"Well, with everything else that has happened in this town, we probably ought to check both of them. If we don't find anything, I can still catch the bowl game tonight. I have no problem going back to LA tomorrow," Casey added.

Sarah concluded, "Okay, we are agreed."

Sarah listened as Chuck called Ellie and said, "Christmas Eve gift." Chuck moved the phone away from his ear as they both heard Ellie squealing in the background. "Hi, got you. Yeah, we are going to stay overnight. Not sure yet, we'll call you tomorrow. Yeah, get Devon. He forgot last year. See you. Yeah, bye." Chuck kissed Sarah.

**Eureka**

Everyone went to the Toy contest. Chuck and Sarah were walking around the perimeter of the contest.

Sarah said, "It's a shame we had to have everyone pull down their lights."

Chuck pointed up the street, "Yeah, but some people are putting out old ones. There would be a contest, but it will still look pretty."

Since the toys now were build almost exclusively to race down a street, the contest and judging was held in front of Café Diem with the track ending passed the Sheriff's office. When Chuck and Sarah got to Café Diem, Vincent was there getting things set up.

Vincent asked, "Chuck, can you help out and be one of our Judges."

Chuck said, "Well, if Julia and Fargo are still entered, I better not. I helped them with the design."

Vincent looked at the list, "They have an entrée."

"Hey Vincent, while you are checking lists, can you check to make sure you have us for tonight?" asked Chuck.

Vincent looked, "Yes, you are on the list. I'll have a table for you and Sarah right after the Toy Contest. But first please have a seat up here. We would be honored to have you watch." Vincent got Casey to join them. And the judging began.

There were several trucks that were clocked at 50 to 60 miles per hour. All of them were nicely painted with extras that matched the originals. Several cars were judged at a little faster speed. The entries included anything from 57 Chevys to those built like new NASCAR racers.

Lucas brought his entry for judging. Everyone had seen it in the play. The nutcracker had an AI mini-processor that allowed it to fulfill its function in the play. But then in front of the crowd the wheels came out of its chest and legs. It knelt down and became a flat bed truck. Screaming down the street it hit 58 miles per hour. The crowd went wild cheering for it.

Sarah saw Zoe clapping and jumping into Lucas and giving him a kiss. So did Jack, he still wasn't all that pleased.

There were several more entries from others working at GD. Sarah did start to wonder with the game room, the decoration contest, and the toy contest whether anyone at GD ever got any work done.

Julia's DeLoran did amaze the crowd. It was clocked at 90 miles an hour, vanished and reappeared at the starting position. Julia and Fargo gave each other a hug when it completed its run.

Lucas won in the teen category. Zoe waited for him to get off the stage and then grabbed him in a hug. Sarah saw Jack shaking his head but smiling.

The overall winner was announced. Julia and Fargo won hands down. Julia ran over and kissed Chuck much to his and Fargo's chagrin.

After the victory celebration, Chuck escorted Sarah into the café. Vincent had set up a very nice Christmas Eve meal for them. All the tables were full. Chuck had asked Casey to join them. He said that he was going ahead to check the church and would grab a takeout for the game. While Chuck tried and Sarah did too, to talk about their situation, the diner was just too noisy.

Chuck said, "Wow, that was packed. I could hardly hear anyone in there. Did you like your dinner?"

Sarah held his hand, "Yes, it was very nice. We can talk a little while we walk over to the church."

Chuck looked at her and said, "You do realize this will be our Christmas lights. I'd like to stay for the service."

Sarah jumped on that, "Yes, I'd like to stay. When I was a little girl I used to go to church with my mother. I remember at Christmas how pretty the church was decorated. The last time we went it was a candle light service. I would love to stay."

Chuck was smiling big. He just found out more about Sarah's childhood and picked the right thing to do.

Sarah kissed his hand, "But first you know we still have to check out the church."

"I know this is work, we still have to take care of the greater good. And I do, and you do. And I will always take care of you first." Chuck looked up, "Well, here's the church. Want to look around outside first?"

They walked around the church. Casey join them. They found nothing suspicious.

When Chuck and Sarah went around front they met Jo and Zane. Chuck and Sarah sat next to each other with Jo next to Chuck. Zoe sat next to Sarah and then Jack and Tess filled up that pew. The congregation filled the service with Christmas music and candle lighting. Sarah was smiling the whole time.

Casey checked in after the service, "I think we are done here. I'm going to head back to the B&B and watch the game. I'll see you later."

Sarah said, "Okay," and walked over to Zane and Jo.

Zane and Jo asked if they wanted to go to Zane's for a drink and cookies.

When they walked in the door, Sarah saw it. She grabbed Chuck by the collar, "You touch the gaming console tonight and you're a dead man, frozen in eternity. Got it?"

Chuck just stared at it. Zane had a full wall screen. At the moment it was showing random Christmas and winter screens while some soft Christmas music played in the background.

Zane walked over and said, "Yeah, when it's safe, okay?" They knuckle bumped.

They were kidding around and Sarah said she did not get to see Santa before Christmas. Chuck laughed and said, "This does not count for today but here's your wish." He walked over to Zane's terminal and brought up the display of the NORAD Santa Track.

Jo said, "Oh and don't worry. He will be in the parade tomorrow."

When they got to the B&B, Casey was watching the replay of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. He was pulling for Nevada since he spent so much time there.

Sarah decided it was time for Casey to learn that the holidays meant a little more than football. She found the mistletoe in the lobby and had moved it earlier. Chuck almost walked into it as she positioned him in the door way. Sarah kissed Chuck through the kickoff and the first three plays.

Chuck was dazed but figured this would count as the Christmas Eve gift he had called Ellie about. On the way up to their rooms, he managed to get out,

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night."

_A/N The Elves are already packing. They have to get off to help Santa. Big night coming. Last chapter is almost done. Few touches to go. _

_Middle Tennessee beat__S. Mississippi 42 to 32. _

_Please review and most of all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. _


	16. Chapter 12 Twelve Drummers Drumming

Chuck vs. A Christmas at Eureka

Still waiting. And still don't own Chuck or Eureka for that matter.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot.

-Albert Einstein

**Chapter 12—Drummers Drumming**

**Christmas Morning**

**B&B**

Chuck slept in and woke up at seven in the morning. He looked out the window. There was snow on the ground. _'Oh, this is going to be a good day. Merry Christmas.'_

He thought he heard Sarah's shower going. He got his change of clothes and began his shower. He was dressed in dark slacks and a green sweater. When he walked out of his room, he met Sarah in the hall. She had a light peach sweater and brown pants. Chuck thought she looked as beautiful as the first day he saw her.

"Morning, Merry Christmas," Chuck said.

"Merry Christmas," Sarah gave him a kiss.

They walked down the hall and saw a note at Casey's room.

S & C,

Heading over to Doc Ski's.

Merry Christmas

Casey

It would have been considered an All-Pro tackle. They almost fell over as hard as their bodies hit each other and the kiss started. They rocked back and forth toward Chuck's bedroom door.

A creek sounded down the hall. Startled they saw Julia in the hall.

"Oh gosh, sorry. Wow, sorry," Julia said. "I have breakfast for you down in the study. I'm heading over to Fargo's. Merry Christmas. Sorry."

"Oh Julia. It's fine. It's our fault we got carried away for a second. Merry Christmas. Will we see you later?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, please. Everyone wants you to come down to the parade. If you can, please come to the café about noon." Julia saw Sarah nod and said, "Bye. The study."

Curiosity got both of them; they went down to the study like kids on Christmas. They stood looking at the Christmas tree with several presents underneath. They both went over to the tree to see whether this was real. Chuck and Sarah looked at each other and ran back up to their rooms. They came back carrying presents while trying to hide them.

Chuck pointed at the first two presents. They were from Jo and Zane. One was for Sarah and the other for Chuck. They looked at each other and the old formal coffee chairs by the tree. They grabbed those and moved them out of the way and sat on the floor by the tree.

"So I never have asked, presents or breakfast first?" Chuck smiled.

"I think its presents," she said as she opened her first. It was a new set of throwing knives. The note said, 'I hope you like these. Dr. Honshu made them here. He was a samurai. Jo'

Next Chuck opened his. He saw what it was and almost covered it back up.

Sarah looked at him, "What? What did they get you?"

Chuck opened it. It was a new gaming console with a disk labeled, COD 3D. A note fell out of the wrapping. Sarah picked it up. It was address to her from Jo, 'Don't worry. You set the duration of play. Its password protected with your biometric signature."

Chuck got the next box. It was for him from Zoe, Julia, Lucas and Fargo. When he opened it he found a new nutcracker. It had a note too, 'Transforms into a Porsche and disappears.'

The next box was for Sarah. It was from Taggart. She got a pair of rabbit fur bootees. The note said something to keep your feet warm on a walk-about.

Chuck had a problem lifting the next box. It was to Sarah and Chuck. The label was signed by Tess, and Jack. It had a note on the box, 'Twin of Martha. Her name is Mary. Designed to protect you both. Our love and thanks forever.'

Sarah got the next two boxes. They were from Henry and Allison. One was for Chuck and one Sarah. When they opened them they found what looked like cold water wetsuits. When they read the tags they found that they were body molding Kevlar armor. They included leggings, tops, and hoods.

Sarah gave Chuck the next present to open. The note said, 'To Chuck, Merriest Christmas, Love you Sarah.' Chuck looked up holding the card, "Really?"

"Yes, sorry it has taken so long to say it, but I love you." Sarah looked at him.

Chuck put the present down and embraced her. He opened the present and found a cell phone.

Sarah said, "It's a secure model like we have, only it comes with some extras. It will project movies or pictures on the wall. If you set it down, it will project a hologram of the person calling. My holo is loaded."

Chuck gave Sarah the next present. The note said, 'To Sarah, Merry Christmas, Love Chuck.' She hurriedly opened the wrapping. When it was uncovered, the Nutcracker began to play. The ballerina inside the glass dome began a pirouette. Sarah looked closer to see the little ballerina was moving with the music not just a doll on a stick. And the ballerina looked just like her. Chuck could tell the choice was the right one, her face almost glowed with joy.

Sarah was like the little girl, he'd always hoped she could be, "Chuck I love this. Thank you so much." She gave him a kiss but went right back to staring at the music box.

Chuck found one other box. It had an old style wrapping like no other. The note said from Nick to Chuck. Chuck unwrapped it. Inside was another box. It had a note too. 'Chuck, For the right moment. You'll know when. Nick.' Chuck peaked inside and then closed the box. He immediately had a worried look on his face.

"Chuck, what did you get?" asked Sarah.

"Let's eat first and before anyone comes back, can we talk a minute? And I would like to talk about us, not work." Chuck pointed to the food.

"You know it is a little hard to separate the two?" asked Sarah.

"I know. But we can talk work this afternoon. We still have to deal with the other thing from here," Chuck raised his eye brow.

"Sure, that sounds good." Sarah went over and started checking the food. The plates were specially warmed and the food was too. There was a hot biscuit and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, sliced ham, and waffles with strawberry topping on the side. "Wow, this really looks good."

They got their plates and sat across from each other. Sarah asked, "Okay who goes first?"

"Well, had we not been even for our little contest, I'd say the winner gets to pick." Chuck looked up at her and saw the book sleeve and old pictures of the revolution behind Sarah.

Sarah looked at Chuck. Then he saw her refocus, "Then I guess I do." She pointed at the wall behind Chuck. It had a picture of drummers and pipes from the revolution. There were twelve drummers.

"I'll go first." Sarah paused, and then said, "I think being here may have been more and more special every day. I know this maybe too complicated. And I know we have both said that. Being here at Eureka just seemed to uncomplicated it.

"We have both wanted normal. When you got the Intersect out, I think we were both heading toward normal. I didn't want to save the world anymore. And I think you thought you were going to be normal again. Then you got the new download." Sarah pointed to her head. "I knew we had to beat these bad guys and end this. But it all seemed to be getting more and more complicated. I didn't know what to do. Then we came here. And while Casey and I will still flip for who gets to kill you first over what you did with the flu and the phase device, as crazy as it seems, I think we are normal here. We are doing what we are supposed to do. And part of that is being us and loving each other." Sarah ended with a huge smile.

Chuck smiled back, "It maybe Eureka, but I think it is us. We are doing the right thing. I mean us being together is the right thing. Although you are right it is hard to separate the two, I am talking about us, not work." Chuck looked at Sarah and pointed at his head, "Having all this up here does not make it come out any different. Sarah, I love you."

Sarah held his hand, "I know." Sarah looked down, "I have known for a long time." When she looked back up she had tears in her eyes, "I love you, Chuck. We'll make it normal."

Chuck said, "You know we will."

They looked at each other and smiled. Sarah said, "Let's get the presents out of the study and take them up stairs."

Chuck was almost running the presents up stairs. Sarah had taken the dishes and serving bowls out to the kitchen. She cleaned the dishes and put the remainder in the refrigerator. When Chuck got to Mary, he opened the box and said, "Good morning and Merry Christmas. I am Chuck. I worked with your sister for a little."

A green light flashed back and forth in the front plate of Mary.

Chuck said, "Good, could we ask you to come up stairs with us?"

The light flashed again.

Chuck had the last two boxes from Henry and Allison, and walked in his room. Sarah was waiting for him and pulled him into the room. He dropped the two boxes and began to kiss her. They were moving to Chuck's bed. Sarah looked out the window as she went to sit on the bed. She saw the Sheriff's vehicle with its lights flashing pull up in front of the B&B.

Chuck looked out the window with Sarah. Sarah reached down and got the boxes off the floor. She got her top out of the box and gave Chuck his. Chuck nodded and turned around.

The door bell rang. Chuck said to Sarah on the way to the door, "What should we get them for Christmas?"

"I think you already did." Sarah turned and kissed him before she opened the door.

Jack and Henry were at the door. Jack said, "Guys we have a slight problem. I hate to bother you but could you follow us?"

_A/N A Great Big Thanks to Everyone for Their Reviews. _

_The Elves said they have off for a few days. But they said they would be back if there is enough interest for a New Years Sequel. _


End file.
